THE  NAVY 
AND  THE  NATION 

WAR-TIME    ADDRESSES 

BY 

JOSEPHUS  DANIELS 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  NAVY 
WITH  AN  INTRODUCTION  BY 

JOHN  WILDER  JENKINS 


NEW  ^ST  YORK 
GEORGE  H.  DORAN  COMPANY 


COPYRIGHT.  1919, 
BY  GEORGE  H.  DORAN  COMPANY 


PRINTED  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  OP  AMERICA 


INTRODUCTION 

"Full  speed  ahead !"  has  been  the  signal  of  the 
Navy  from  the  moment  we  entered  the  war. 
When  the  call  came,  it  was  ready.  The  plans 
had  all  been  prepared  in  advance,  and  it  required 
only  an  order  to  mobilize  the  Fleet.  Far  from 
breaking  down  under  the  war  strain,  the  depart- 
mental machinery  actually  speeded  up.  No 
change  whatever  was  required  in  the  organiza- 
tion, which  easily  expanded  to  meet  the  im- 
mensely increased  demands.  From  admirals  to 
seamen,  from  Bureau  chiefs  to  clerks,  the  entire 
establishment  worked  together  with  the  spirit  of 
the  corps.  This  "spirit  of  the  Navy" 'is  a  very 
real  thing,  as  all  who  are  brought  in  contact 
with  the  Service  know.  Everybody  "gets  into 
the  game"  with  a  dash  and  eagerness  that  are 
infectious,  and  new  elements  are  quickly  assimi- 
lated. 

The  apparent  ease  with  which  the  vast  expan- 
sion of  the  Navy  was  accomplished  has  caused 
many  to  lose  sight  of  the  tremendousness  of  the 
task  and  its  difficulty.  Sir  Eric  Geddes,  First 
Lord  of  the  British  Admiralty,  on  his  visit  to 
this  country  last  October  said:  "The  dauntless 
determination  which  the  United  States  has  dis- 
played in  creating  a  huge  trained  body  of  seamen 

[iii] 


INTRODUCTION 

out  of  landsmen  is  one  of  the  most  striking  ac- 
complishments of  the  war.  Had  it  not  been  ef- 
fectively done,  one  would  have  thought  it  impos- 
sible." This  was  only  one — and  that  by  no  means 
the  most  difficult — of  many  problems  that  had  to 
be,  and  were,  solved  successfully.  When  the 
armistice  was  signed  there  were  more  men  in  the 
United  States  Navy  than  there  were  in  all  the 
world's  navies  before  the  European  war.  There 
were  more  than  six  times  as  many  ships  in  serv- 
ice as  when  the  war  began,  and  hundreds  more 
were  under  construction.  Our  vessels  were  oper- 
ating from  the  Murman  Coast  to  the  Adriatic, 
through  all  the  Atlantic  from  the  North  Sea  to 
the  Azores,  in  the  Pacific  from  Panama  to  Vladi- 
vostock.  Some  idea  of  the  increase  in  the  Service 
can  be  gained  from  the  statement  that  the  appro- 
priations during  the  past  two  years  have  exceeded 
the  total  expenditures  of  the  Navy  from  its  crea- 
tion in  1794  down  to  1917. 

During  this  momentous  period  Secretary 
Daniels  has  been  fortunate  in  having  loyal  and 
capable  counselors.  The  Bureau  chiefs  were 
men  of  his  own  selection,  they  worked  together 
with  the  close  and  intimate  cooperation  of  men 
inspired  by  the  same  ideals  and  animated  by  a 
common  purpose,  and  not  one  has  failed  to  meas- 
ure up  to  the  responsibilities  imposed  upon  him. 
Mr.  Daniels  trusts  them,  he  has  every  confidence 
in  them;  but,  at  the  same  time,  he  has  his  own 
ideas  and  sees  that  they  are  carried  out.  And  he 

[iv] 


INTRODUCTION 

also  insists  on  knowing  all  that  is  being  done. 
This  involves  a  vast  amount  of  detail,  it  requires 
him  to  be  "on  the  job"  early  and  late — no  cabinet 
officer  ever  worked  harder — but  it  enables  him 
to  know  everything  that  is  going  on  in  the  De- 
partment and  the  Service.  He  laughingly  admits  i 
that  he  "didn't  know  a  thing  about  the  Navy" 
when  he  left  his  editorial  sanctum  to  take  office 
as  Secretary,  but  he  set  about  to  learn  every 
detail  of  it;  and  no  Government  official  was  ever 
more  thoroughly  familiar  with  his  Department. 
These  speeches,  delivered  in  the  stir  and  stress 
of  wartime,  probably  reflect  more  faithfully  his 
spirit  and  ideals  than  would  the  studied  phrases 
of  formal  and  carefully  considered  addresses. 
They  voice  his  passion  for  democracy,  which  he 
defines  as  "the  theory  that  every  man,  high  or 
low,  rich  or  poor,  shall  have  a  chance  to  make  the 
most  of  himself."  They  reveal  his  firm  belief  in 
the  God  of  Our  Fathers,  in  a  religion  that  means 
clean  living  and  right  thinking,  a  practical,  work- 
ing morality  applied  to  public  as  well  as  private 
affairs.  Through  them  all  shines  forth  his  thor- 
ough Americanism,  his  belief  in  our  country  and 
its  ideals;  his  faith  in  the  people;  his  never  fail- 
ing confidence  in  the  triumph  of  the  Right.  If  he 
seems  at  times  to  dwell  somewhat  too  much  upon 
"service"  and  "sacrifice,"  it  is  because  he  feels 
that  these  words  best  express  the  unselfishness  of 
America  in  this  war  for  humanity.  His  admira- 
tion of  the  courage  and  daring  of  youth,  his  sor- 

M 


INTRODUCTION 

rowful  pride  in  the  young  men  who  have  given 
their  lives  for  the  Cause  is  intensified,  I  some- 
times think,  by  his  own  feeling  of  kinship  with 
them,  for  he  retains  in  a  marked  degree  that 
youthfulness  of  spirit,  the  buoyant  optimism  and 
freshness  of  view  that  most  men  lose  as  they  grow 
older.  Perhaps  that,  and  his  devotion  to  his  own 
sons,  also  accounts  largely  for  his  personal  inter- 
est in  the  boys  of  the  Navy — for  the  Navy  is 
largely  a  boy  institution.  It  is  not  in  his  nature  to 
look  upon  the  men  in  the  service  as  merely  so 
many  parts  in  a  big  machine.  They  are  "his 
boys,"  and  he  considers  it  his  duty  and  privilege 
to  give  them  every  opportunity  for  development 
and  education,  every  possible  chance  to  fit  them- 
selves for  any  position  in  life  they  are  capable  of 
filling.  "The  Door  of  Opportunity  has  been 
opened  wide  to  the  enlisted  man,"  he  exclaimed  in 
a  speech  to  13,000  recruits  at  Great  Lakes  Train- 
ing Station.  And  proof  of  this  is  the  fact  that 
more  than  ten  thousand  enlisted  men  and  warrant 
officers  have  been  promoted  to  commissioned  or 
warrant  rank.  Early  in  the  war  he  instituted  the 
rule  that,  in  both  the  Navy  and  Marine  Corps, 
commissions  were  to  be  issued  only  to  men  from 
the  ranks  who  had  won  them  by  fair  competition, 
open  to  all.  "The  Navy  does  not  give  any  man 
a  commission/'  he  said.  "He  must  win  it  him- 
self by  his  own  ability  and  energy."  And  this 
merit  system  was  no  small  factor  in  stimulating 
ambition  and  improving  morale. 

[vi] 


INTRODUCTION 

Though  never  minimizing  the  moral  issue,  it 
was  not  any  desire  to  make  a  "goody  goody"  in- 
stitution of  the  Navy  or  to  reform  cities  which 
inspired  his  order  banishing  the  wine-mess  from 
warships;  his  insistence  upon  laws  to  prevent 
the  serving  of  drink  to  men  in  uniform ;  his  orders 
creating  zones  around  training  camps  and  sta- 
tions in  which  saloons,  gambling  dens  and  houses 
of  ill  fame  were  prohibited.  It  was  primarily  his 
desire  to  protect  the  young  men  committed  to  his 
care,  to  prevent  them  from  falling  victims  to  vice 
and  disease,  to  assure  mothers  and  fathers  that 
they  could  safely  entrust  their  sons  to  the  Navy 
in  the  confidence  that  they  would  develop  into 
manly,  wholesome  men,  strengthened  in  character 
as  well  as  physique.  "The  old  saying,  'Drunk  as 
a  sailor/  is  clear  out  of  date,"  the  Secretary  re- 
marked, not  without  a  touch  of  pride ;  "people  say 
now,  'He's  sober  as  a  sailor.' '  And  events  have 
justified  the  policies  for  which  Mr.  Daniels  was 
so  severely  criticized  when  they  were  instituted. 
There  is  hardly  an  officer  in  the  Navy  who  would 
to-day  recommend  the  r establishment  of  the 
wine-mess  aboard  ship.  Its  abolition  has  been 
justified  on  the  ground  of  efficiency  alone.  Pro- 
tective measures  have  resulted  in  reducing  drink- 
ing ashore  to  a  minimum  and  in  greatly  decreas- 
ing diseases  that  are  the  bane  of  navies  and 
armies  alike. 

His  close  scrutiny  of  contracts,  his  insistence 
on  getting  things  at  the  lowest  possible  cost,  in 

[vii] 


INTRODUCTION 

some  cases  throwing  out  all  bids  and  comman- 
deering ships  or  fixing  prices  under  the  special 
authority  given  by  law  in  war  time,  caused  Mr. 
Daniels  to  be  rather  severely  criticized.  One 
eminent  steel  magnate  said  to  him:  "Daniels,  I 
don't  see  why  they  call  you  a  Southerner ;  when 
it  comes  to  a  trade,  you  are  the  closest  Yankee  I 
ever  went  up  against."  But  this  policy  resulted 
in  saving  millions  of  dollars  to  the  Government, 
and  the  Secretary  thinks  that  is  worth  all  the 
denunciation  that  was  poured  upon  him.  At 
times  in  the  rush  of  war  work  he  put  upon  men 
in  charge  of  big  undertakings  tasks  they  said 
were  "plainly  impossible"  to  accomplish  in  the 
time  set.  "Yes,  I  know  that,"  he  remarked 
aside;  "but  we  will  get  that  work  done  a  lot 
sooner  if  everybody  goes  staving  at  it  with  the 
idea  that  it  must  be  done  by  that  time."  And 
some  seeming  impossibilities  were  accomplished. 
A  saying  in  the  Navy,  "It  can't  be  done — BUT, 
here  it  is !"  grew  into  a  motto  that  was  repeated 
with  pride  when  a  big  job  was  "put  over"  in 
record  time.  The  whole  establishment  set  out 
to  break  records  in  every  line.  The  idea  that 
"the  only  way  to  keep  up  with  the  game  is  to 
keep  ahead  of  it,"  prevailed,  and  ships  and  sta- 
tions, bureaus  and  yards  engaged  in  eager  rivalry. 
And  the  Secretary  was  the  midst  of  it  all,  com- 
mending the  leaders,  stirring  up  the  laggards,  and 
keeping  all  moving  like  the  coach  at  a  football 
game. 

[viii] 


INTRODUCTION 

It  was  strenuous  striving,  this  whirl  of  war, 
with  never  a  let-up,  day  or  night,  enough  to  have 
broken  down  any  man.  But  Mr.  Daniels  enjoyed 
it  and  thrived  under  the  strain.  After  a  grilling 
day,  with  half  a  dozen  conferences  and  a  con- 
stant stream  of  callers,  he  would  close  his  desk 
with  a  smile,  toss  an  armful  of  mail  and  docu- 
ments to  his  colored  messenger  to  take  to  his  resi- 
dence, and  say  with  a  laugh,  "Now  we'll  go  home 
and  work  awhile." 

His  enjoyment  of  his  work,  his  unfailing  good 
humor,  his  superb  health,  his  eagerness  to  serve 
his  country  to  the  best  of  his  ability  and  the  limit 
of  his  strength  have  enabled  him  to  carry  the 
burdens  of  war  without  being  crushed  by 
them. 

Regarding  war  as  one  of  the  most  terrible  evils 
that  afflict  mankind  and  hoping  it  might  be 
averted,  Mr.  Daniels  saw  plainly  that  America 
might  be  drawn  into  the  conflict,  and  believed  it 
should  be  prepared  for  any  eventuality  that 
might  arise.  In  his  annual  report  for  1915  he 
urged  a  large  increase  in  the  Navy,  and  continu- 
ous construction.  This  plan  was  adopted  by  Con- 
gress in  the  epoch-making  Act  of  August  29, 
1916,  which  authorized  the  "three-year  pro- 
gram," including  157  war  vessels;  provided  for 
a  considerable  increase  in  personnel  and  the  crea- 
tion of  an  ample  Naval  Reserve  Force.  This  Act, 
which  carried  appropriations  of  $312,000,000 — 
the  largest  amount  which,  up  to  that  time,  had 

[ix] 


INTRODUCTION 

ever  been  appropriated  at  one  time  for  naval  pur- 
poses— laid  the  basis  of  preparedness  and  pro- 
vided the  machinery  for  the  expansion  of  the 
Navy. 

From  the  moment  hostilities  appeared  inevit- 
able, Mr.  Daniels  threw  all  his  energies  into  prep- 
aration. Long  before,  through  the  Naval  Con- 
sulting Board  and  other  agencies,  he  had  sur- 
veyed the  industries  of  the  country  and  the  avail- 
ability of  the  plants  for  war  work.  Soon  after 
the  breaking  off  of  diplomatic  relations  with  Ger- 
many all  the  merchant  ships,  yachts,  tugs  and, 
other  craft  in  our  ports  were  surveyed  with  a 
view  to  their  use  as  auxiliaries.  In  March  con- 
tracts were  let  for  the  building  of  355  submarine 
chasers.  Most  of  the  vessels  authorized  in  the 
three-year  program  had  already  been  contracted 
for.  Preparations  had  been  made  to  arm  mer- 
chant ships  for  defense  against  attack  by  sub- 
marines, and  when  the  President  issued  his  or- 
der, March  12,  1917,  this  work  was  begun  that 
very  day.  Vessels  carrying  naval  gun's-crews 
were  sailing  through  the  war  zone  before  war 
was  declared.  The  first  man  lost  in  service 
against  the  enemy  was  a  member  of  the  Armed 
Guard,  John  I.  Eopolucci,  who  went  down  with 
the  Aztec  on  April  I,  the  day  before  President 
Wilson  delivered  his  war  message  to  Congress. 
Naval  vessels  had  been  put  in  readiness,  muni- 
tions stored,  supply  ships  were  ready  to  sail? 
When  a  state  of  war  with  Germany  was  pro- 


INTRODUCTION 

claimed  on  April  6,  the  Fleet  was  mobilized  with- 
out an  hour's  delay. 

Admiral  Sims  had  already  been  sent  abroad  to 
get  in  touch  with  Allied  admiralties,  and  a  work- 
ing agreement  with  them  was  put  into  effect  im- 
mediately. Ruthless  submarine  warfare  was  at 
its  height.  More  than  700,000  tons  of  shipping 
was  sunk  in  that  month.  The  possibility  of  Ger- 
many sending  her  U-boats  against  our  own  coast 
was  thoroughly  realized,  as  was  also  the  fact 
that  we  did  not  have  enough  destroyers  to  patrol 
home  waters  and  at  the  same  time  furnish  an  ef- 
fective force  for  foreign  service.  But  there  was 
no  hesitation.  A  vigorous  aggressive  policy  was 
adopted.  The  American  Navy  decided  not  to  wait 
for  the  submarines,  but  to  "go  after"  them. 
Orders  were  immediately  issued  to  equip  a  flotilla 
of  destroyers  for  foreign  service.  Sailing  on 
April  24,  they  arrived  at  Queenstown  May  4, 
and  reported  for  duty  with  the  British  Navy 
twenty-eight  days  after  war  was  declared.  This 
force  in  European  waters  was  constantly  in- 
creased, every  type  of  boat  that  could  be  effect- 
ively utilized  being  sent  over.  A  division  of 
American  battleships  was  sent  to  operate  with 
the  British  Grand  Fleet;  submarines  were  dis- 
patched, sub-chasers  were  sent  over  in  a  steady 
stream.  Naval  aviators  were  sent  abroad,  the 
first  arriving  in  France  June  8.  Bases  were  es- 
tablished all  along  the  French  coast,  in  the  Medi- 
terranean and  the  Azores.  When  hostilities 

[xi] 


INTRODUCTION 

ended  there  were  more  than  300  vessels  and  a 
force  of  over  75,000  men  and  officers  operating 
in  European  waters  under  Admiral  Sims'  com- 
mand. 

The  Germans'  long-distance  gun  that  bom- 
barded Paris  was  answered  by  the  huge  Ameri- 
can 14-inch  naval  guns.  On  mobile  railway 
mounts,  these  long  cannon  threw  their  1,400- 
pound  projectiles  far  in  rear  of  the  enemy  lines, 
destroying  bases,  tearing  up  railroad  stations, 
cutting  lines  of  communication.  These  immense 
mounts,  locomotives  and  trains  were  designed 
and  built  in  a  few  months,  shipped  to  France,  set 
up  there  and,  manned  by  Navy  gunners,  under 
command  of  Rear  Admiral  Plunkett,  moved  along 
the  firing  line  from  Laon  to  Montmedy,  playing 
an  effective  part  in  the  final  rout  of  the  Germans. 

The  North  Sea  Mine  Barrage,  which,  stretch- 
ing from  the  Orkneys  to  the  coast  of  Norway,  did 
much  to  bar  the  egress  of  German  vessels  and 
accounted  for  not  a  few  U-boats,  was  an  Ameri- 
can idea,  and  eighty-five  per  cent  of  the  230  miles 
of  mines  were  made  in  this  country  and  planted 
by  American  mine-layers.  From  the  beginning 
our  naval  authorities  had  held  to  the  idea  that 
the  best  way  to  curb  the  submarines  was  to  pen 
them  up  in  their  bases.  Our  ordnance  officers 
soon  after  we  entered  the  war  urged  the  laying 
of  mine-fields  clear  across  the  North  Sea,  but  the 
immensity  of  the  project  deterred,  for  a  time,  the 
adoption  of  the  plan.  A  special  type  of  mine  was 

[xii] 


INTRODUCTION 

devised  and  manufactured  by  thousands,  a  mine 
fleet  was  created,  active  mine-laying  began  last 
June  and  the  immense  undertaking  was  com- 
pleted in  October. 

Tankers  were  scarce.  The  British  Grand  Fleet 
and  American  battleships  were  stationed  on  the 
east  coast.  Fuel  ships,  after  reaching  the  western 
ports,  had  to  make  the  long  trip,  braving  the  sub- 
marines, around  the  North  of  Scotland,  to  the 
Firth  of  Forth.  With  the  aid  of  American  naval 
units,  a  pipe-line  was  laid  clear  across  Scotland, 
enabling  the  tankers  to  unload  at  a  western  port, 
the  oil  being  piped  across  to  the  British  bases  on 
the  eastern  coast.  This  is  only  one  example  of 
the  way  in  which  we  made  every  possible  contri- 
bution to  Allied  naval  effectiveness. 

When  it  was  decided,  in  May,  1917,  to  send 
over  at  once  as  large  a  force  as  possible  of  United 
States  troops,  the  task  of  transporting  them  was 
entrusted  to  the  Navy.  Transports  were  hastily 
gathered  and  equipped,  and  the  first  convoy, 
under  command  of  Admiral  Cleaves,  sailed  on 
June  14.  The  first  contingent  arrived  at  St. 
Nazaire  on  June  26,  the  last  of  the  convoy  be- 
ing landed  by  July  3.  Though  twice  attacked 
by  submarines,  all  arrived  safely.  This  was  the 
beginning  of  what  grew  into  "the  biggest  trans- 
portation job  in  history" — the  carrying  of  2,000,- 
ooo  men  3,000  miles  overseas.  When  the  men  of 
the  National  Army  poured  into  the  camps  by  thou- 
sands that  autumn,  the  question  was  anxiously 

[xiii] 


INTRODUCTION 

asked,  "How  will  you  ever  transport  them?" 
With  only  a  handful  of  transports,  it  did  seem  im- 
possible. But  Daniels  answered :  "When  the  men 
are  ready  to  go,  the  ships  will  be  ready.  I  don't 
know  now  how  we  shall  get  them,  but  we'll  get 
them  somehow."  The  huge  German  vessels, 
whose  machinery  had  been  wrecked,  were  re- 
paired and  utilized  as  troop-ships  and  supply  ves- 
sels. Merchantmen  and  liners  were  acquired  and 
converted,  Dutch  ships  were  put  into  service  and 
a  large  Cruiser  and  Transport  Force  created. 
When  the  "March  drive"  of  1918  threatened  the 
Allied  lines,  British  shipping  in  quantity  was 
made  available,  and  by  July  the  British  and  Amer- 
ican vessels,  with  some  French  and  Italian  assist- 
ance, were  carrying  overseas  300,000  men  a 
month.  To  furnish  food,  munitions  and  the  thou- 
sand things  needed  by  this  big  army,  a  vast  sup- 
ply system  had  to  be  established,  and  the  Navy 
was  soon  manning  and  operating  hundreds  of 
supply  vessels.  The  Naval  Overseas  Transpor- 
tation Service  was  created,  and  in  a  single  year 
grew  to  a  fleet  of  321  vessels,  with  a  deadweight 
tonnage  of  2,800,000. 

This  unprecedented  undertaking  of  transport- 
ing men,  munitions  and  supplies  was,  in  spite  of 
the  constant  menace  of  submarine  attack,  accom- 
plished with  so  small  a  loss  of  life  and  cargoes 
that,  as  compared  with  the  general  result,  the 
losses  were  almost  negligible.  But  it  never  ceased 
to  be  a  hazardous  task.  Every  safeguard  was 

[xiv] 


INTRODUCTION 

adopted ;  but  there  is  no  means  known  to  man  that 
will  give  vessels  absolute  protection  from  under- 
sea attack,  there  was  never  an  hour  when  there 
was  not  the  possibility  that  some  troop-ship 
might  be  sunk,  with  its  precious  cargo  of  human 
freight;  and  only  those  closely  associated  with 
them  can  know  the  strain  and  anxiety  of  the 
chiefs  of  Navy  and  Army  when  large  convoys  of 
troops  were  sailing  through  the  dangers  of  the 
war  zone.  Yet  the  stream  never  halted. 

When,  the  first  Sunday  in  June,  1918,  Ger- 
man submarines  appeared  off  our  own  coasts  and 
sank  half  a  dozen  schooners,  a  tanker  and  a  coast- 
wise passenger  liner  in  a  single  day,  the  whole 
country  was  excited.  It  was  a  trying  time.  The 
safety  of  our  own  sailors  and  fishermen,  our 
schooners  and  home  craft  was  the  first  thought. 
Telegrams  by  the  hundred  poured  into  the  Navy 
Department.  There  was  a  strong  demand  that 
all  available  naval  craft  be  turned  to  the  protec- 
tion of  coastwise  and  incoming  traffic,  that  troop- 
ships and  ocean-going  merchantmen  be  held  until 
the  danger  was  over.  Had  that  been  done,  the 
Germans  would  have  succeeded  in  their  object. 

"Will  the  transports  be  held  in  port?" 
"Aren't  you  going  to  convoy  all  coastwise  traf- 
fic?" "Won't  you  have  to  use  all  the  patrol  ves- 
sels to  protect  the  steamers  and  schooners  off  our 
shores?"  were  some  of  the  questions  with  which 
the  Secretary  was  confronted  when  he  faced  the 
members  of  the  Press  the  next  morning.  He  did 

[xv] 


INTRODUCTION 

not  attempt  to  minimize  the  seriousness  of  the  sit- 
uation. But  he  clenched  his  fist  as  he  said:  "We 
are  doing,  and  will  do,  all  we  can  to  protect 
coastwise  shipping.  But  our  first  duty  is  to  keep 
open  the  Road  to  France.  Nothing  will  be  al- 
lowed to  halt  the  ships  carrying  men,  munitions 
and  supplies." 

In  spite  of  the  submarines  at  our  very  doors, 
the  transports  sailed  as  scheduled,  well  con- 
voyed; and  the  Germans,  while  they  sank  more 
than  a  score  of  schooners  and  a  number  of  steam- 
ers, did  not  delay  the  troop-ships  a  single  day. 

That  was  characteristic  of  Mr.  Daniels'  policy 
in  prosecuting  the  war.  He  never  wavered  for 
an  instant  in  the  main  objects.  Adopting  the 
President's  policy  of  "Force,  force  to  the  ut- 
most," he  protested  against  fixing  any  definite 
number  of  men  we  should  send  to  France.  "Don't 
let  us  talk  of  two  million  or  three  million,"  he 
said ;  "we  will  send  over  all  the  millions  that  are 
required,  for  America  is  pledged,  to  her  last  dol- 
lar and  her  last  man,  to  win  this  war."  And  in 
October,  after  the  German  overtures,  when  a 
well-known  magazine  writer  asked  him  to  dis- 
cuss arrangements  for  peace,  he  refused,  saying, 
"It  is  not  my  business  to  talk  peace  or  think  of 
peace,  until  the  Central  Powers  are  defeated  and 
have  laid  down  their  arms.  It  is  my  business 
and  the  business  of  the  Navy  to  devote  every 
thought  and  energy  to  winning  the  war." 

Yet  he  continually  looked  forward  to  that  glad 
[xvi] 


INTRODUCTION 

day  when  hostilities  should  end  in  victory  for 
democracy,  when  we  would  look  upon  "a  new 
heaven  and  a  new  earth"  in  which  liberty,  pros- 
perity and  the  happiness  of  freedom  would  bless 
the  whole  e  ftth.  There  was  no  man  in  that  nota- 
ble assembly  in  the  House  of  Representatives 
November  u,  who  more  deeply  rejoiced  when 
the  President,  in  that  historic  speech  setting 
forth  the  terms  of  the  German  surrender,  pro- 
nounced the  momentous  words:  "The  war  thus 
comes  to  an  end." 

Delivered  on  various  occasions  when  he  could 
spare  a  few  hours  from  his  desk  in  Washing- 
ton, these  addresses  are  the  spontaneous  expres- 
sion of  Mr.  Daniels'  ideas  and  ideals,  many  of 
which  he  has  been  privileged  to  translate  into 
reality  and  in  the  realization  of  others  has  seen 
his  dreams  come  true. 

JOHN  WILBER  JENKINS. 


[xvii] 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 


INTRODUCTION iii 

CHAPTER 

I     "GET  You  A  NAVAL  HERO"  ....      »2i 
Address  to  Graduating  Class,  U.  S.  Naval 
Academy,  Annapolis,  March  29,  1917 

II    PATRIOTISM  BEFORE  BUSINESS    ...       34 
Patriotic  Meeting  of  Retail  Merchants  of 
Washington,  May  26,  1917 

III  "UNCLE  SAM,  HERE  I  AM"    ....       39 
Coal  Operators1  Conference,  Washington, 

June  26,  1917 

IV  "A  PLACE  IN  THE  SUN" 46 

Breaking  Ground  for  Armor  Plate  and  Pro- 
jectile Factory, Charleston,  Aug.  30, 1917 

V    MEN   MUST  LIVE   STRAIGHT  IF  THEY 

WOULD  SHOOT  STRAIGHT    ....       56 
Clinical  Congress  of  Surgeons  of  North 
America,  Chicago,  October  22,  1917 

VI    YOUTH'S  COURAGE  AND  SACRIFICE    .     .       70 
Naval    Memorial    Service,     Washington 
Navy  Yard,  October  28,  1917 

VII    To  MAKE,  NOT  BREAK,  PRISONERS  .     .       77 
Portsmouth  (N.  H.)  Naval  Prison,  No- 
vember 18,  1917 

VIII    THE  POISON  or  PESSIMISM  -   ....       83 
Southern  Society  Banquet,  New  York,  De- 
cember 12,  1917 

IX    WAR  AGAINST  JUNKERISM      ....       92 
Alliance  for  Labor  and  Democracy,  New 
York,  February  22,  1918 

[xix] 


CONTENTS 

OTSR  PAGE 

X    THE  BLESSING  OF  NATIONAL  UNITY       .     103 
Launching  of  Catholic  War  Fund  Cam- 
paign, New  York,  March  17,  1918 

XI    THE  TEST  OF  AN  AMERICAN  .     .     .     .     no 
Society  of  the  Sons  of  St.  Patrick,  New 
York,  March  16,  1918 

XII    KNIGHTS  OF  OUR  NEW  DAY — THE  NAVY 

IN  PEACE  „• 121 

National  Geographic  Society,  Washington, 
March  29,  1918 

XIII  THERE  Is  No  RANK  IN  SACRIFICE    .     .     131 
Yale  University,  New  Haven,  April  18, 1918 

XIV  "FREEDOM'S    BATTLE,    ONCE    BEGUN, 

THOUGH  BAFFLED  OFT  Is  EVER  WON"     138 
Tremont  Temple,  Boston,  April  19,  1918 

A  RACE  BETWEEN  WILSON  AND  HINDEN- 

BURG 142 

Faneuil  Hall,  Boston,  October  30,  1918 

XV    LEADERSHIP,  INSPIRATION  AND  PUBLIC 

SERVICE  OF  THE  PRESS 147 

American  Newspaper  Publishers'  Associa- 
tion, New  York,  April  25,  1918 

XVI    AMERICA'S  NEW  HORIZON      .     .     .     .     155 
American  Cotton  Manufacturers'  Associa- 
tion, New  York,  May  2,  1918 

XVII    STAR  OF  HOPE  AND  FAITH  UNDIMMED    .     164 
General  Conference  of  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  South;  Atlanta,  Ga.,  May  n, 
1918 

XVIII    As  THEY  Go  FORTH  TO  BATTLE  .     .     .     170 
Address  to  Graduating  Class,  U.  S.  Naval 
Academy,  Annapolis,  June  6, 1918 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

XIX    COLLEGES  IN  THE  NEW  CRUSADE      .     .     177 

Commencement  Day,   University  of  Vir- 
ginia, Charlottesville,  June  n,  1918 

XX    THE  FORCE  OF  AN  IDEAL  STRONGER  THAN 

THE  IDEAL  OF  FORCE     .....     188 

Fourth  of  July  Celebration  by  the  Tam- 
many Society  of  New  York,  July  4,  1918 

XXI    MEN  OF  THE  RED  TRIANGLE  ....     196 

Y.  M.C.  A.  Meeting,  Carnegie  Hall,  New 
York,  July  8,  1918 

XXII    READY  FOR  ANY  DUTY  OR  DANGER  .     .     202 
Newport,  R.  I.,  Naval  Training  Station, 


November 

REAL  "  STUFF  "  AND  "  PEP  "  WILL  "Wm"     206 

Naval  Training  Station,  Hampton  Roads, 
July  20,  iQi8 

XXIII  OUR  SOUTH  AMERICAN  SHIPMATES    .     .     214 

Dinner  in  honor  of  Officers  of  Argentine 
Battleship  "  Rivadavia"  and  Brazilian 
Battleship  "S3o  Paulo,"  New  York, 
August  21,  1918 

XXIV  LOYALTY  OF  LABOR      ......     221 

Labor  Day,  Indianapolis,  Sept.  2,  1918 

XXV    LAFAYETTE'S  PROPHECY  FULFILLED      .     230 
Celebration  of  LaFayette's  Birthday,  La- 
Fayette  Monument,   Washington,  Sep- 
tember 6,  1918 

XXVI    WILSON     AND     WILHELM'  —  OPPOSING 

IDEALS  CONTRASTED     .....     239 

Address  to  Class  of  648  Naval  Reserve  En- 
signs, Annapolis,  Sept.  18,  1918 

[xxi] 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PACK 

XXVII    WEALTH  ENLISTED  IN  NATION'S  SERVICE    249 
American  Bankers'  Association,  Chicago, 
September  27,  1918 

XXVIII    THE  RETURN  TO  THE  PROMISED  LAND    257 
Zionist    Patriotic    Demonstration,    New 
York,  September  29,  1918 

XXIX    A  PEACE  OF  JUSTICE,  NOT  REVENGE     .     266 

Community  ThaKksgiving  Service,  Buffalo, 
November  28,  1918 

XXX    THE  MARINES  AT  CHATEAU-THIERRY    .     275 

Annual   Report   of  the  Secretary   of  the 
Navy,  December  i,  1918 

XXXI    COMRADES  OF  THE  SEAS 290 

Springfield,  Mass.,  December  8,  1918 

XXXII    THE  NEED  OF  A  GREATER  NAVY      .  >  .     295 
Statement  to  House  Naval  Affairs  Com- 
mittee, December  30,  1918 

XXXIII  DRINK  BANISHED  FROM  THE  NAVY   .     .     302 
Board   of  Temperance,   Prohibition   and 

Public  Morals  of  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  Washington,  December  17, 1918 

XXXIV  ITALY  AN  INSPIRATION 311 

Italy-America  Society,   New  York,  Jan- 
uary 26,  1919 

XXXV    WOMEN'S  WORK  IN  WAR 323 

Congressional  Club,   Washington,  Febru- 
ary 7,  1919 

XXXVI    A  COVENANT  OF  PEACE    .     .     »     .     .     328 
Cathedral  of  St.  John  the  Divine,  New 
York,  February  16,  1919 

XXXVII    BRIEF  MESSAGES,  LETTERS  AND  UTTER- 
ANCES ON  SPECIAL  OCCASIONS       .     .     337 

[xxii] 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 


THE 
NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 


"GET  YOU  A  NAVAL  HERO" 


We  live  in  tense  times.  Great  issues  stir  the  depths 
of  men.  Small  questions  are  shriveled.  Life,  death,  lib- 
erty, valor,  justice,  immortality  are  the  themes  that 
alone  grip  us  in  this  hour.  Questions  big  with  the  fate 
not  alone  of  nations,  but  the  world,  may  be  decided  by 
you.  I  summon  you  to  your  high  calling,  confident  that 
with  solemn  responsibility  there  will  come  heroic 
achievement. 

Address  to  Graduating  Class  of  1917,  U.  S.  Naval 
Academy,  Annapolis,  Md.,  March  29,  1917. 

You  are  to  receive  your  commission  in  a  day 
when  nearly  all  the  world  is  in  the  vortex  of  war 
and  no  people  can  feel  that  they  may  not  be  drawn 
into  it.  Your  own  country  faces  a  crisis.  In  this 
emergency  the  President,  who  has  declared  his 
belief  that  "the  American  Navy  ought  to  be  in- 
comparably the  most  adequate  Navy  in  the  world" 
in  the  exercise  of  a  discretion  vested  in  him,  will 
commission  you  three  months  ahead  of  the  usual 
period.  That  fact  alone  emphasizes  the  signifi- 
cance of  your  early  graduation.  Whatever,  in 

[21] 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

addition  to  steps  already  taken  by  placing  armed 
naval  guards  on  merchant  ships,  this  country 
may  be  called  upon  to  do,  its  chief  and  first  re- 
liance will  be  upon  the  Navy.  Fortunately,  the 
country  has  officers  and  men  not  surpassed  in  any 
naval  service.  To  their  number  we  are  adding 
to-day  183  officers  from  the  Naval  Academy,  and 
we  are  drawing  to  its  enlisted  strength  an  addi- 
tional 25,000  from  the  alert  and  resolute  youth  of 
the  country,  which,  added  to  the  present  personnel, 
gives  us  the  finest  body  of  enlisted  men  any  offi- 
cers were  ever  privileged  to  instruct  and  lead. 
You  come  into  a  service  with  a  glorious  record, 
resplendent  with  noble  traditions.  You  enter  at 
a  time  when  grave  responsibilities  fall  without 
days  of  waiting  upon  your  young  shoulders.  To- 
day, as  not  before  in  a  generation,  the  eyes  of 
your  countrymen  are  turned  in  pride  as  well  as 
in  confidence  toward  the  newly  commissioned  en- 
signs. You  go  out  of  this  institution  with  its 
imprimatur.  You  go  into  the  hard  and  honor- 
able service  before  you  with  valor.  You  leave 
this  institution  which  has  nurtured  you,  with  the 
resolve  to  be  worthy  successors  of  the  brave  men 
who  in  every  decade  have  made  the  achievements 
of  the  Navy  the  crowning  glory  of  America. 

Your  training  fits  you  for  duties  not  dreamed 
of  by  naval  officers  of  the  last  generation.  In 
men  "the  best  is  yet  to  be."  Your  country  sees 
in  you  leaders  in  naval  improvements  such  as  did 
not  enter  into  the  minds  of  men  of  Admiral 

[22] 


"GET  YOU  A  NAVAL  HERO" 

Dewey's  day.  This  faith  in  youth  was  never  bet- 
ter expressed  than  by  Admiral  Dewey  to  Chief 
Justice  White  shortly  before  the  Admiral's  death. 
"Tell  me  about  these  young  officers  of  the  Navy," 
said  the  Chief  Justice  to  the  Admiral.  "Will 
they  equal  the  splendid  officers  of  our  day?" 
With  enthusiasm  the  Admiral  told  of  their  train- 
ing, their  mastery  of  many  branches,  their  ver- 
satility, and  said,  "These  youngsters  know  three 
hundred  times  as  much  as  young  officers  knew 
in  my  day." 

My  advice  to  every  young  man  of  ambition 
and  stuff  who  enters  Annapolis  is,  "Get  you  a 
naval  hero."  You  will  reveal  your  character  and 
your  purpose  by  the  type  of  man  you  select  as 
your  example.  No  books  are  so  stimulating  to 
young  men  as  autobiography.  The  story  told  in 
his  own  words  by  a  man  who  has  wrought  well 
has  a  charm  and  a  fascination  found  in  no  other 
books.  We  are  so  constituted  that  the  highest 
virtues  can  be  emulated  only  if  we  find  them  in- 
carnate. Truth,  bravery,  self-control  are  cold 
and  abstract  unless  they  shine  forth  in  the  lives 
of  men  of  flesh  and  blood.  Indeed  our  holy  re- 
ligion was  interpreted  through  the  Man  of  Gali- 
lee. I  would  not  dare  hope  to  impress  upon 
young  men  the  duty  of  self-sacrifice,  self-re- 
straint and  self -elevation  if  these  graces  had  not 
blossomed  in  the  lives  of  men  of  our  own  time  and 
you  had  not  been  privileged  to  see  their  perfect 
fruition  in  honorable  lives. 

[23] 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

The  answer  of  youth  to  the  challenge,  "Live 
upon  the  heights!"  is,  "Show  me  a  man  of  my 
temperament  who  has  climbed  the  Alps,  whose 
life  was  so  wholesome  and  valiant  as  to  win  for 
him  a  place  with  the  immortals.  Let  me  see  if 
he  had  temptations  like  those  which  assail  me. 
Tell  me  how  he  overcame  them.  Then  and  then 
only  will  I  believe  it  possible  for  me  to  be  master 
of  appetite,  to  put  aside  selfish  ambition,  and  be 
able  to  emulate  his  virtues."  This  demand  of 
youth  for  a  hero  they  can  understand  and  emu- 
late— a  real  man  whose  rise  to  greatness  has  been 
along  the  paths  they  expect  to  walk — must  be  met 
by  the  production  of  a  "sun-crowned"  man.  "We 
cannot  look,  however  imperfectly,  upon  a  great 
man,  without  gaining  something  by  him.  He  is 
the  living  light- fountain,  which  it  is  good  and 
pleasant  to  be  near.  The  light  which  enlightens, 
which  has  enlightened  the  darkness  of  the  world ; 
and  this  not  as  a  kindled  lamp  only,  but  rather  as 
a  natural  luminary  shining  by  the  gift  of  Heaven ; 
a  flowing  light-fountain,  as  I  say,  of  native  orig- 
inal insight,  of  manhood  and  heroic  nobleness; 
in  whose  radiance  all  souls  feel  that  it  is  well 
with  them." 

It  is  a  matter  of  gratulation  that  in  presenting 
your  diplomas  to-day,  I  do  not  need  to  try  to 
preach  maxims  into  your  hearts.  I  am  happy  to 
be  able  to  point  you  to  a  man,  lately  called  from 
us,  whose  whole  life  was  the  bourgeoning  forth 
of  the  best  traditions  of  the  Naval  Academy  and 
[24] 


"GET  YOU  A  NAVAL  HERO" 

the  Naval  Service.  There  is  no  need  in  finding  a 
hero  for  the  class  of  1917  to  go  to  ancient  history 
or  to  invoke  the  magic  naval  names  of  Nelson  or 
John  Paul  Jones,  heroes  of  other  days,  whose 
achievements  seem  far  removed  from  our  day  and 
modern  conditions.  It  is  a  far-cry  from  a  hero 
who  manned  wooden  ships  in  what  this  genera- 
tion thinks  an  ancient  and  rude  period,  though  the 
story  of  their  deeds  now  and  always  will  thrill 
every  manly  soul. 

But  we  do  not  need  to  go  beyond  our  own  time 
to  find  the  spirit  of  chivalry  that  shone  in  those 
old  heroes  of  the  sea.  It  is  a  libel  upon  our  civi- 
lization to  say  "there  were  giants  in  those  days" 
when  we  thereby  convey  the  impression  that  the 
breed  of  men  of  courage  has  not  survived  to  our 
day.  Let  us  indeed  praise  the  men  of  other  times 
who  illustrated  the  sternest  qualities  of  our  race, 
for  they  shine  forever  in  the  firmament  and 
beckon  us  to  peaks  and  mountain  tops  of  sacrifice 
and  service.  But,  young  gentlemen,  the  hero  to 
whom  I  point  you  to-day  is  no  far-removed  fixed 
star,  so  remote  as  to  be  out  of  the  influence  of  our 
lives  and  surroundings.  There  is  no  call  to  turn 
back  the  pages  of  history  to  read  of  a  youth  who 
conquered  the  waves  and  won  even  a  greater  vic- 
tory by  attuning  his  whole  life  to  the  music  of 
Duty.  For  there  is  a  melody  in  Duty  that  brings 
the  glow  of  gladness  and  the  blessing  of  strength 
to  all  who  attend  upon  its  strains.  It  is  no  siren 
song,  no  mere  jingle  of  melody  which  Duty  brings 

[25] ' 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

to  those  whose  ears  are  trained  to  listen,  but  it  is 
heard  only  by  the  valiant  and  the  brave.  Young 
gentlemen,  let  us  turn  a  deaf  ear  to  those  who  tell 
us  we  live  in  commonplace  days  and  must  go  the 
gait  of  those  who  see  no  vision,  dream  no  dreams, 
and  translate  no  dreams  into  deeds  that  live  for 
all  time.  Let  us  rather  have  faith  in  our  age  and 
say  with  the  poet: 

"We  are  living,  we  are  moving 
In  a  grand  and  awful  time, 
In  an  age  on  ages  telling 
To  be  living  is  sublime." 

A  few  weeks  ago  the  best  friend  of  the  young 
naval  officer,  full  of  years  and  full  of  honors, 
gave  a  cheerful  "Aye,  Aye,  Sir"  to  the  call  of  the 
divine  Commander-in-Chief.  When  George 
Dewey  passed  from  us,  almost  his  last  thought 
was  of  you,  young  gentlemen,  and  your  associates. 
Long  before  the  sad  day  for  us,  when  he  was 
called  hence,  the  Admiral  of  the  Navy  told  his 
wife  that  when  the  end  came  he  wished  the  mid- 
shipmen of  Annapolis  to  be  the  guard  of  honor 
at  his  burial.  "I  do  not  wish  them  to  come,"  he 
said,  "because  they  are  under  orders.  I  wish 
them  to  come  as  friends."  And  as  friends  of  that 
golden-hearted  gentleman,  you  went  on  that  sol- 
emn day  to  Washington.  You  felt  you  were  sig- 
nally honored  by  his  choice,  as  indeed  you  were 
above  all  other  Americans.  When  I  tell  you, 
young  naval  officers,  "Get  you  a  hero  and  make 

[26] 


"GET  YOU  A  NAVAL  HERO'* 

him  your  example,"  I  do  not  offer  a  man  of  an- 
cient days,  a  man  who  is  unknown  to  you,  but  I 
commend  to  you  your  chieftain,  your  fellow  of- 
ficer, the  late  George  Dewey,  the  Admiral  of  the 
Navy. 

This  is  not  the  time  for  eulogy  of  this  sailor- 
statesman.  Some  day  I  hope  to  have  the  privilege 
of  trying  to  trace  his  career  and  interpret  his  life 
for  you  and  those  who  come  after  you.  To-day 
I  merely  give  you  the  name,  the  fame,  the  deeds 
of  George  Dewey  and  bid  you  make  him  the 
pattern  of  your  life,  so  far  as  any  man  should 
seek  to  follow  in  the  footsteps  of  another. 

What  was  the  secret  of  the  fame  of  Dewey? 
Let  me  not  attempt  to  state  it,  but  rather  let  him 
in  his  own  words  tell  you  the  inspiration  that 
guided  him  in  his  naval  career,  showing  the  wis- 
dom of  his  selection  of  a  hero  worthy  of  emula- 
tion. "For  two  years  during  the  Civil  War," 
Dewey  writes  in  his  autobiography  (which,  by 
the  way,  I  advise  every  young  officer  to  read),  "I 
was  close  to  Farragut  without  realizing  at  that 
time  that  I  was  taking  him  as  my  ideal.  He  has 
always  been  my  ideal  of  the  naval  officer — ur- 
bane, decisive,  indomitable.  Whenever  I  have 
been  in  a  difficult  situation,  or  in  the  midst  of 
such  a  confusion  of  details  that  the  simple  and 
right  thing  to  do  seemed  hazy,  I  have  asked  my- 
self:  'What  would  Farragut  do  in  these  circum- 
stances?' In  the  course  of  the  preparations  for 
Manila  Bay  I  often  asked  myself  this  question, 

[27] 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

and  I  confess  I  was  thinking  of  him  the  night  we 
entered  the  Bay  and  with  the  conviction  that  I 
was  doing  precisely  what  he  would  have  done. 
Valuable  as  the  training  at  Annapolis  was,  it  was 
poor  schooling  beside  that  of  serving  under  Far- 
ragut  in  time  of  war." 

You  have  enjoyed  exceptional  advantages  at 
Annapolis,  superior  to  those  in  Dewey's  day,  but 
in  his  spirit  I  say  to  you  to-day,  the  influence  of 
his  career  is  worth  more  to  you  as  a  stimulation  to 
the  highest  endeavor  than  the  helpful  instruction 
you  have  received  in  this  institution.  I  hope  there 
is  not  a  midshipman  here  who  does  not  feel  within 
himself  that  with  the  coming  of  responsibility  he 
is  resolved  to  be  no  whit  less  dependable  than 
Dewey.  I  trust  there  is  not  one  who  lacks  the  am- 
bition to  make  ample  preparation  for  the  day  that 
may  come — how  soon,  who  can  tell  ? — when  upon 
his  coolness  and  knowledge  and  leadership  and 
ability  to  shoot  straight  may  depend  the  fate  of  a 
decisive  naval  engagement. 

Those  of  you  who  may  have  had  anxious  days 
waiting  for  the  posting  of  marks  and  who  have 
lived  through  weeks  of  hard  work,  struggling  to 
bring  up  a  low  average  caused  by  weakness  in 
some  study,  can  appreciate  and  take  comfort  in 
the  experience  of  Admiral  Dewey  while  at  the 
Naval  Academy.  He  himself  tells  us  that  his 
first  year  at  Annapolis  also  came  near  being  his 
last,  for  he  was  weak  in  geography  and  history, 
drawing  and  grammar;  in  fact,  in  no  study  ex- 

[28] 


"GET  YOU  A  NAVAL  HERO" 

cept  mathematics  did  he  take  a  brilliant  stand. 
From  his  dignity  and  exemplar iness  in  after 
years,  you  may  expect  to  hear  that  "conduct"  was 
his  saving  grace,  but  the  spirit  of  mischief  and 
adventure  which  was  so  prominent  in  his  boyish 
days  was  uppermost  in  this  first  year  at  the  Acad- 
emy ;  moreover,  "conduct,"  in  the  relative  weight 
of  markings,  was  not  then  held  to  be  of  great  im- 
portance, so  that  it  was  his  standing  in  mathe- 
matics which  pulled  him  through.  But  out  of  the 
38  members  of  the  class  who  survived  at  the  end 
of  the  first  year,  from  the  original  number  of  75, 
Dewey  stood  No.  35.  However,  the  following 
year  he  did  much  better  and  finally  in  his  last  year 
he  stood  No.  5  in  the  class  of  15  which  graduated, 
and  attained  a  star.  But  Dewey  tells  us  that  ge- 
ography, in  which  he  was  weak  at  the  Academy, 
he  learned  in  the  harbors  of  the  world;  and  his 
handicap  in  history  was  overcome  by  wide  read- 
ing and  study  in  after  years;  and  we  know  that 
the  tactics  and  gunnery,  which  lowered  his  stand- 
ing at  the  Naval  Academy  but  which  he  after- 
wards had  an  opportunity  to  study  in  the  hard 
school  of  the  Civil  War,  won  his  undying  fame  at 
the  Battle  of  Manila  Bay. 

We  have  expressed  honor  and  praise  and  our 
pride  in  those  who  have  graduated  with  the  high- 
est honors  here  to-day,  so  this  is  told  by  way  of 
encouragement  and  as  an  example  for  those  who 
may  have  had  uphill  work,  but  who  in  spite  of 
difficulties,  have  overcome  and  reached  the  goal. 

[29] 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

Admiral  Dewey  loved  to  tell  of  the  pranks  and 
the  mischievous  doings  of  his  boyhood  days.  As 
a  little  lad  he  was  fond  of  water  sports  and  was  a 
good  swimmer,  so  the  "Onion"  River,  in  the 
neighborhood  of  his  home,  formed  the  back- 
ground for  many  of  his  adventures.  Since  the 
Admiral's  death,  some  one  has  told,  as  an  illustra- 
tion of  his  resolution  and  tenacity  of  purpose,  the 
story  of  how  he  and  another  little  chap  tried  to 
outlast  each  other  under  water.  The  affair  ter- 
minated when  the  other  boy  surrendered  and 
Dewey  was  taken  unconscious  from  the  river. 
For  a  while  his  father  and  friends  thought  his 
life  had  been  lost,  but  at  last  he  opened  his  eyes 
and  gasped,  to  the  relief  of  all,  "Did  I  win?" 

The  history  of  Admiral  Dewey  furnishes  one  of 
the  many  examples  that  it  is  only  the  man  who 
makes  ready  in  the  days  of  calm  who  is  fully 
ready  in  the  days  of  storm.  A  call  to  duty  in  the 
Navy  is  ever  quick  and  imperative.  The  signal 
comes  in  one  minute  and  the  next  minute  the  bat- 
tle is  lost  or  won.  There  is  never  time  in  a  crisis  to 
prepare.  If  preparation  has  not  been  made  pa- 
tiently and  thoroughly  in  the  lower  grade  or  rank, 
the  naval  officer  never  has  opportunity  when  the 
emergency  arises.  This  is  true  also  in  mastering 
the  studies  which  are  necessary  for  command. 
Dewey — thanks  to  having  selected  Farragut  as 
his  ideal  and  making  ready  every  day  of  his  ca- 
reer— was  collected  and  capable  and  cool  on  the 
morning  he  sailed  into  Manila  Bay.  He  recalled 

[30] 


Farragut's,  "Damn  the  torpedoes ;  go  ahead,"  and 
gave  orders  to  enter  and  venture  the  uncertainties 
of  a  harbor  reported  to  be  mined.  "Before  the 
declaration  of  war  with  Spain,"  said  Dewey,  "I 
had  not  only  considered  the  preparations  for  the 
battle,  but  my  position  in  the  event  of  victory.  In 
the  event  of  defeat  no  ship  of  our  Asiatic  Squad- 
ron would  have  been  afloat  to  tell  the  story."  Ad- 
miral Dewey  had  duties  at  Manila  as  important, 
and  in  some  respects  more  delicate  and  difficult, 
after  the  battle  as  in  that  hour  under  fire.  For- 
tunately he  had  made  a  life-long  study  of  inter- 
national law,  and  he  did  not  need  to  turn  to  his 
books  to  learn  his  duty.  "International  law,"  he 
tells  us,  "had  been  one  of  my  favorite  studies." 
He  was  familiar  with  the  law,  and  never  by  word 
or  action  usurped  the  function  of  the  civil  gov- 
ernment which  must  always  be  supreme  in  inter- 
national matters  as  well  as  in  domestic  rule.  He 
won  a  place  as  statesman  in  his  responsible  duties 
after  the  Battle  of  Manila  Bay.  No  people  need 
ever  fear  military  usurpation  when  administered 
by  a  naval  officer  like  Dewey,  zealous  for  govern- 
ment by  law,  with  the  sword  acting  only  at  the  di- 
rection of  the  civilian  ruler.  There  has  come,  I 
am  glad  to  say  to  you,  a  new  understanding  of  the 
spirit  of  the  Navy  by  the  people  as  evidenced  by 
the  generous  and  wise  provision  by  the  last  Con- 
gress for  its  enlargement  and  strengthening.  And 
likewise  in  the  Navy  there  has  come  an  apprecia- 
tion of  the  spirit  of  the  people  as  experienced 

[30 


THE  NAVY  AND  TflE  NATION 

through  their  representatives  in  Congress.  Much 
of  their  mutual  understanding  and  appreciation 
is  due  to  the  wise  leadership  of  Admiral  Dewey, 
who  upheld  the  hands  of  the  Commander-in-Chief 
and  taught  the  nation  that  its  safety  resided  in 
just  government  and  in  a  powerful  Navy,  the  in- 
strument of  patriotic  civil  administration. 

Will  the  people's  faith  in  the  Navy  as  its  pro- 
tector be  justified?  Will  they  safely  look  to  it  as 
the  strong  right  arm  of  government  without 
thought  that  a  powerful  navy  endangers  the  su- 
premacy of  civilian  authority?  The  answer  to 
that  question  is  for  you  and  your  fellow  officers, 
and  those  who  come  after  you.  I  have  tested  the 
quality  of  the  men  of  the  Navy  of  to-day.  I  think 
I  know  their  loyalty  to  Country  and  to  its  tradi- 
tions, and  their  whole-hearted  devotion  to  the 
ideals  of  their  profession.  These  ideals  were  em- 
bodied in  George  Dewey.  To  a  study  of  his 
career  I  invite  every  young  naval  officer.  He  was 
respected  by  his  fellow  officers,  he  was  loved  by 
the  men  under  his  command — for  his  was  always 
a  happy  ship — he  was  honored  by  his  countrymen. 
There  is  your  example,  young  gentlemen.  Fol- 
low in  the  footsteps  of  Dewey  as  he  emulated 
Farragut. 

We  live  in  tense  times.  Great  issues  stir  the 
depths  of  men.  Small  questions  are  shriveled. 
Life,  death,  liberty,  valor,  justice,  immortality 
are  the  themes  that  alone  grip  us  in  this  hour. 
Questions  big  with  the  fate  not  alone  of  nations, 

[32] 


"GET  YOU  A  NAVAL  HERO" 

but  the  world,  may  be  decided  by  you.  I  summon 
you  to  your  high  calling,  confident  that  with  sol- 
emn responsibility  there  will  come  heroic  achieve- 
ment. I  do  not  venture  to  prophesy  what  lies  be- 
fore you.  No  man  can  say  what  a  day  may  bring 
forth.  But  whether  your  service  is  in  peace, 
or  whether  you  are  called  to  an  early  baptism  of 
fire,  there  will  be  always  the  incentive  to  high 
courage  and  to  daring  if  in  every  emergency  you 
ask  yourself  the  question,  "What  would  Dewey 
do  ?"  and  you  will  find  fellowship  with  him  by  dis- 
playing those  qualities  which  made  our  country 
poorer  when  Admiral  Dewey  "crossed  the  bar" 
and  met  his  "Pilot  face  to  face." 


[33] 


II 

PATRIOTISM    BEFORE   BUSINESS 

Now  and  then  we  hear  some  one  rise  and  say  that 
business  ought  to  "go  on  as  usual."  The  only  business 
in  this  country  to-day  is  to  win  the  war  for  universal 
liberty.  If  it  should  happen — and  it  cannot  happen  as 
long  as  God  reigns — that  autocracy  should  rule,  no  man's 
business  will  be  worth  a  fig. 

Patriotic  Meeting  of  Retail  Merchants  of  Washing- 
ton, May  26,  1917. 

IT  is  a  great  pleasure  to  come  to-day  and  to  ex- 
press, officially,  the  thanks  of  the  Navy  to  this 
patriotic  organization  of  business  men  in  the 
Capital  of  the  Republic  for  beginning  what  I  be- 
lieve will  come  to  be  adopted  by  every  city  in  the 
country,  a  program  of  putting  patriotism  above 
business. 

The  gentlemen  of  this  organization,  with  the 
proper  conception  of  their  duty  to  increase  the 
material  prosperity  of  the  city,  have  been  accus- 
tomed every  year  to  organize  an  excursion  to  pro- 
mote local  business.  This  year,  of  their  own 
volition,  animated  by  the  spirit  which  I  believe  is 
the  dominating  spirit  in  America  to-day,  they 
have  stated  that  their  private  business,  and  the 
private  business  of  all  Washington,  and  all  Amer- 

[34] 


PATRIOTISM  BEFORE  BUSINESS 

ica,  is  secondary  to  the  preservation  of  the  prin- 
ciples for  which  this  Nation  has  gone  to  war. 

Now  and  then  we  hear  some  one  rise  and  say 
that  business  ought  to  "go  on  as  usual."  But  the 
only  business  in  this  country  to-day  is  to  win  the 
war  for  universal  liberty. 

If  it  should  happen — and  it  cannot  happen  as 
long  as  God  reigns — that  autocracy  should  rule, 
no  man's  business  will  be  worth  a  fig,  and  it  is  the 
duty  of  business  men  everywhere  with  large  vision 
to  understand  that  if  they  would  have  a  "place  in 
the  sun"  for  themselves  and  their  children,  this 
great  war  must  be  won,  and  won  by  American 
participation.  When  your  body  determined  that 
they  would  make  this  an  occasion  for  patriotism 
rather  than  for  business,  they  considered  in  what 
way  they  could  contribute  best  to  the  strengthen- 
ing of  the  National  Defense  and  they  chose  to  de- 
vote their  efforts  and  energies  in  cooperation  with 
the  Marine  Corps  to  increase  the  enlistment  of 
these  Soldiers  of  the  Sea.  There  is  no  finer  body 
of  fighting  men  in  the  world  than  the  Marines.  It 
is  a  particular  privilege  of  my  life  to  be  daily  as- 
sociated with  the  officers  and  men  who  make  up 
this  historic  part  of  the  Navy. 

In  times  of  great  stress,  and  great  war,  other 
branches  of  the  National  Defense  are  called  upon, 
but  the  Marine  is  always  on  the  spot  ready  for  his 
work.  If  there  is  trouble  in  Nicaragua,  we  send 
the  Marines.  If  there  is  trouble  imperiling  the 
power  of  America  on  this  side  of  the  ocean,  we 

[35] 


THE  NAVY  AND  T.HE  NATION 

send  the  Marines.  If  there  is  trouble  in  China 
in  which  the  Legations  must  protect  Americans, 
we  send  the  Marines;  and  there  is  no  record  of 
failure  in  this  splendid  branch  of  the  American 
Navy. 

A  few  years  ago  it  was  limited  to  the  number 
of  15,000.  Congress  ordered  an  increase  and  now 
there  are  23,000  stalwart  men  enrolled  in  the  Ma- 
rine Corps  and,  as  a  result  of  your  rally,  and  like 
rallies  all  over  this  country,  before  we  celebrate 
the  Fourth  of  July  we  shall  have  35,000  men  in 
this  Corps. 

I  appeal  to  young  men  when  considering  what 
service  they  shall  render  (and  the  young  man  who 
does  not  render  some  service  has  no  right  to  write 
the  word  "American"  after  his  name)  that  they 
shall  go  into  that  branch  of  the  Service  for  which 
they  are  best  fitted.  In  the  Marine  Corps  there  is 
a  place;  a  place  of  service  and  a  place  of  oppor- 
tunity. The  Marine  Corps  preserves  strict  disci- 
pline with  comradeship  between  men  and  officers. 
In  this  Corps  there  is  opportunity  for  advance- 
ment, unsurpassed  in  any  military  branch  in  the 
world,  unless  it  be  in  France,  and,  thank  God !  we 
are  imitating  France  in  giving  a  better  chance  to 
the  enlisted  men. 

On  the  recent  visit  to  this  country  of  the  mis- 
sion from  France,  I  asked  one  of  the  commis- 
sioners whether  the  story  that  had  been  printed  in 
the  early  days  of  the  war  on  the  Marne  was  true. 
You  have  heard  the  tale  that  tells  the  whole  story 

[36] 


PATRIOTISM  BEFORE  BUSINESS 

of  why  the  French  people  love  Joffre  and  why  the 
whole  world  loves  him.  There  are  great  generals, 
great  soldiers  in  every  army  in  Europe,  but  no 
man  has  won  the  hearts  of  his  soldiers  and  the 
world  so  much  as  General  Joffre,  and  it  is  be- 
cause there  is  not  a  man  in  the  allied  forces  who 
has  not  known  that  General  Joffre  sympathises 
with  every  man  struggling  for  liberty. 

The  story  was  that  a  certain  general  of  the 
French  army  of  the  build  of  General  Joffre,  an 
able  and  splendid  officer  of  strict  discipline  who 
had  every  virtue  except  the  virtue  of  making  his 
men  love  him,  and  therefore  he  lacked  the  price- 
less thing,  was  walking  down  the  lane  and  a  sol- 
dier put  his  hand  on  his  shoulder  to  speak  with 
him.  The  general  turned  in  stern  rebuke  and 
said,  "What  do  you  mean  by  touching  me?" 
And  the  soldier  apologized  and  in  his  apology 
said,  "I  beg  your  pardon,  General,  I  thought  it 
was  General  Joffre." 

There  wasn't  a  soldier  in  France  who  did  not 
feel  a  comradeship  with  Joffre  and  there  isn't  a 
man  in  the  Marine  Corps  who  does  not  feel  a  com- 
radeship with  George  Barnett,  and  Colonel 
Doyen,  who  is  to  lead  the  Marines  who  go  to 
France.  In  one  of  his  inimitable  stories  of  the 
Revolution,  Edward  Everett  Hale  tells  us  that  a 
new  word  came  into  common  use  because  of  the 
spirit  of  that  war.  He  said  after  a  meeting  on  the 
Common  to  rally  the  young  men,  a  youth  of  six- 
teen years,  of  education  and  ability,  went  to  his 

[37] 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

father  and  said,  "Father,  what  is  this  word  'In- 
dependence' I  hear  so  much  about?"  Mr.  Hale 
said  the  word  "Independence"  up  to  that  time  was 
not  known  to  be  in  the  vocabulary,  except  by  a 
student  of  the  dictionary.  In  a  moment  that  word 
was  born  and  became  a  part  of  the  spirit  and  life 
of  the  American  people.  We  have  been  living  in 
days  of  peace,  and  I  would  to  God  we  could  have 
continued  in  honor  in  the  paths  of  peace.  But, 
much  as  we  love  peace,  we  love  honor  and  liberty 
more  and  are  ready  to  fight  for  them.  We  are  at 
war  because  we  "could  do  no  otherwise"  and  up- 
hold our  principles  as  a  nation.  There  is  only  one 
thing  worse  than  death  and  that  is  for  a  people 
not  to  stand  for  independence,  liberty  and  jus- 
tice. 

I  have  little  patience  with  those  who  tell  us  that 
the  heart  of  the  American  people  is  not  in  this 
great  struggle.  I  tell  you  that  from  ocean  to 
ocean  there  is  agreement ;  a  determined  and  patri- 
otic resolution  that  we  will  enlist  the  last  man,  the 
last  ship,  and  the  last  dollar  to  carry  this  war  to 
victory,  because  we  know  it  is  to  be  the  last  great 
war  of  the  world.  When  this  conflict  is  over 
we  shall  have  a  parliament  of  man  preserv- 
ing liberty  and  independence  for  the  small  nations 
as  well  as  the  great,  and  we  shall  look  back  to  this 
war  as  the  turning  point  in  the  world's  history, 
when  liberty  and  justice  have  been  so  completely 
won  that  they  never  can  be  jeopardized  again. 

[38] 


Ill 


"UNCLE  SAM,  HERE  i  AM" 

Most  of  us  sitting  in  our  factories,  stores  or  offices, 
think  of  the  Government  as  a  separate  entity,  some- 
thing that  does  not  concern  us,  something  that  is  far  re- 
moved from  us.  I  wish  we  of  every  community  could 
think  that  the  Government  is  ourselves,  and  that  when 
we  serve  the  Government  we  are  not  serving  some  re- 
mote agency.  We  are  serving  ourselves  and  our  sons, 
and  promoting  our  own  welfare. 

Coal  Operators'  Conference,  Washington,  June  26, 
1917. 

JUST  as  I  left  the  Navy  Department  my  secre- 
tary handed  me  a  new  song,  the  title  of  which  was 
"Uncle  Sam,  Here  I  am."  On  the  frontispiece 
was  a  picture  of  Uncle  Sam  in  his  war  togs,  and 
standing  by  him  in  khaki  was  a  splendid  type  of 
the  American  youth.  You  will  find  him  on  the 
streets  of  Washington,  you  will  find  him  on  the 
battleships,  you  will  find  him  in  the  camps,  you 
will  find  him  in  the  homes  getting  ready  for  ser- 
vice, offering  the  utmost  thing  a  man  can  offer 
to  his  country,  his  life.  And  I  come  to  speak  to 
you,  gentlemen,  because  I  have  the  faith  that  the 
same  spirit  which  is  actuating  the  more  than  200,- 
ooo  young  men  in  the  Navy  to-day  and  the  mil- 

[39] 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

lions  that  have  signed  up  to  enroll  in  the  army  is 
actuating  you.  "Uncle  Sam,  Here  I  am"  is  the 
motive  that  has  brought  you  to  Washington  to- 
day, and  is  the  spirit  in  which  you  have  entered 
upon  your  contribution  to  the  national  defense. 

We  have  witnessed  in  recent  days  rapid  and 
wonderful  changes.  The  passion  of  America  is 
for  peace,  but  I  dare  say  there  is  not  a  man  in 
this  hall  who,  during  the  more  than  two  years 
when  the  course  of  this  nation  as  to  whether  its 
duty  would  call  it  to  war  or  permit  it  to  follow  the 
paths  of  peace  was  in  the  balance,  did  not  have  the 
thought  of  national  service  uppermost  in  his 
mind.  The  day  came  when  the  issue  had  to  be 
met,  and  there  was  but  one  way  to  meet  it.  In  a 
moment,  with  only  brief  debate,  almost  by  ac- 
clamation, the  American  Congress,  expressing 
the  voice  of  the  American  people,  declared  that 
100,000,000  of  us  would  speak  and  act  and  fight 
as  one  man.  I  am  one  of  those  who  believe  that 
Americans  at  heart  are  all  alike,  and  that  in  this 
struggle  in  which  we  are  engaged  there  is  no  real 
division.  Now  do  not  understand  me  to  say  that 
all  people  in  America  are  in  perfect  harmony. 
There  are  a  few  who  do  not  keep  step  to  the  mu- 
sic of  our  national  air,  but  their  number  is  so 
small  and  their  influence  so  little  that  when  one  of 
them  raises  his  voice  against  the  national  decree, 
the  penalty  for  treason  is  so  swift  and  sure  that 
if  there  be  others  they  are  silenced. 

The  Congress  of  the  United  States  authorized 
[40] 


"UNCLE  SAM,  HERE  I  AM" 

an  unprecedented  issue  of  bonds,  and  there  were 
not  wanting  men  in  this  country,  some  bankers 
and  others,  who  doubted  whether  the  American 
people  would  rise  to  the  occasion  and  subscribe 
those  bonds.  What  did  we  see?  With  an  in- 
terest so  low  as  not  to  be  attractive  as  an  invest- 
ment, these  bonds  were  oversubscribed.  Then  we 
witnessed  an  even  greater  achievement,  because 
it  was  a  contribution  and  not  an  investment.  The 
Red  Cross  within  a  few  weeks  raised  more  than 
$100,000,000  to  alleviate  the  sufferings  of  war. 
The  traditions  of  this  people  have  been  against 
compulsory  military  service.  For  a  hundred 
years  this  has  been  the  spirit  and  belief  of  the 
major  portion  of  Americans,  and  yet  when  the 
hour  came  when  a  new  policy  was  demanded  and 
necessary,  by  an  overwhelming  vote  the  selective 
draft  was  put  in  operation  and  more  than  ten  mil- 
lion young  men  came  forward  and  wrote  their 
names  on  what  will  be  for  many  of  them  the  roll 
of  honor,  and  the  achievements  and  the  sacrifices 
they  make  will  add  a  new  chapter  to  the  glory  of 
American  history. 

There  has  been  no  sacrifice  demanded  that  our 
people  have  not  made,  and  we  are  but  at  the  be- 
ginning of  these  sacrifices.  No  nation  was  ever 
welded  until  it  had  suffered.  No  friendships  are 
so  strong  as  those  that  are  cemented  with  sacri- 
fice. America  no  longer  asks  for  volunteers; 
every  man  in  America  is  a  volunteer,  every  man  is 
coming  forward  and  putting  on  the  altar  of  his 

[41] 


THE  NAVY  AND  T.HE  NATION 

country  all  he  possesses.  Aye,  and  the  young 
men  who  have  gone  in  the  first  transports  to 
fight  in  France  are  giving  not  only  all  they  have 
and  all  they  are,  but  all  they  hope  to  be. 

So  that  we  do  not  come  to  speak  of  any  class 
of  Americans,  because  there  is  no  class.  We  are 
all  one,  living  in  a  common  country,  with  all  we 
have  in  common.  No  man  owns  a  coal  mine,  no 
man  owns  an  oil  well,  no  man  owns  a  railroad. 
He  is  the  trustee  of  America  to  manage  that  prop- 
erty for  victory  for  America.  Last  week  you  saw 
in  the  papers  that  we  had  a  two  days'  conference 
here  with  the  committee  of  the  Steel  and  Iron 
Institute,  discussing  the  only  problem  in  the 
United  States  to-day.  There  is  but  one  problem, 
it  is  distribution.  What  part  of  the  sacrifice, 
what  part  of  the  service  is  each  man  called  upon 
to  render  ?  When  that  conference  was  over,  with 
a  spirit  of  hearty  Americanism  those  men  repre- 
senting great  interests  with  a  harmonious  and 
united  action  agreed  that  every  pound  of  steel  and 
every  ton  of  iron  was  at  the  service  of  the  Gov- 
ernment, to  be  used  for  our  own  Government  or 
for  the  Allies  or  for  whatever  purpose  should  be 
necessary  to  win  this  war.  As  to  prices,  after 
some  discussion  about  it  the  Government  officials 
and  the  steel  officers  dismissed  the  subject.  They 
said  in  substance:  "This  is  no  time  to  discuss 
profits.  It  is  a  time  to  discuss  distribution,  and 
we  have  the  faith  that  the  Government  experts 
will  be  so  fair  and  just  that  when  we  hand  over 

[42] 


"UNCLE  SAM,  HERE  I  AM" 

to  the  Government  all  the  product  of  our  plants 
for  this  country  and  its  allies  we  shall  have  rea- 
sonable and  .fair  profits.  We  want  nothing  more." 
The  same  spirit  that  actuated  these  gentlemen 
actuates  you,  and  you  have  come  out  to  discuss 
among  yourselves,  not  the  question  of  prices. 
That  is  comparatively  an  immaterial  matter.  All 
you  wish  to  know  about  price  is  that  your  Govern- 
ment, through  processes  in  which  you  have  confi- 
dence, will  ascertain  the  cost  of  your  production 
and  pay  you  a  fair  profit.  The  question  is  one 
purely  of  distribution.  That  is  the  question  the 
Secretary  and  officers  of  the  Navy  are  trying  to 
solve — one  of  distribution.  We  have  not  enough 
trained  officers  to  man  the  increasing  navy,  and 
our  problem  is  to  distribute  the  officers  to  the 
fleets,  to  the  factories,  to  the  navy  yards,  to  all 
the  elements  that  go  to  make  a  strong  navy,  so  as 
to  make  it  more  efficient.  That  is  the  problem  in 
Congress;  how  to  distribute  the  burden  of  taxa- 
tion so  that  it  will  bear  justly  and  equally,  and 
upon  those  best  able  to  pay  it.  Your  problem, 
therefore,  is  the  problem  of  everybody.  Mr.  Pea- 
body  and  his  committee  are  laboring  here  to  help 
you  and  help  the  Government,  because  you  are  the 
Government.  I  sometimes  wish  we  could  get  the 
conception  in  the  mind  of  every  man  in  America 
that  the  Government  is  not  something  far  re- 
moved from  us.  Most  of  us,  sitting  in  our  fac- 
tories, stores,  or  offices,  think  of  the  Government 
as  a  separate  entity,  something  that  does  not  con- 

[43] 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

cern  us,  something  that  is  far  removed  from  us. 
I  wish  we  of  every  community  could  think  that 
the  Government  is  ourselves  and  that  when  we 
serve  the  Government  we  are  not  serving  some 
remote  agency.  We  are  serving  ourselves  and 
our  sons  and  promoting  our  own  welfare. 

Your  chairman  has  told  you  the  Navy  is  the 
largest  consumer  of  coal.  We  shall  need  more 
coal  than  ever.  We  shall  need  coal  for  our  ships 
patrolling  from  Halifax  to  the  southernmost  part 
of  South  America.  Our  ships  will  never  be  idle 
and  will  travel  more  miles  this  year  than  they  have 
traveled  in  a  decade.  We  shall  carry  to  France 
under  the  convoy  of  the  Navy  thousands,  tens  of 
thousands,  hundreds  of  thousands,  and,  if  need 
be,  millions  of  men  to  fight  until  we  have  achieved 
victory.  And  not  one  man  can  go  across  the 
ocean  unless  our  ships  have  the  coal  or  the  oil, 
and  as  most  of  them  are  coal-burners,  it  is  to 
you  that  we  look  for  proper  distribution.  We  will 
call  upon  every  man  for  such  portion  as  his  mines, 
as  his  resources  justify,  because  the  Government 
must  be  fair,  it  must  be  just,  or  it  is  not  your  Gov- 
ernment, and  every  man  must  respond  in  the 
spirit  of  giving  his  just  share.  The  man  with  a 
large  mine  or  a  large  steel  plant  will  come  for- 
ward and  say  to  the  Government,  "I  am  ready." 
The  man  with  a  smaller  plant  must  furnish  less, 
but  all  alike  each  man  must  make  his  contribu- 
tion. Each  will  voice  the  words:  "Uncle  Sam, 
Here  I  am." 

•[44] 


"UNCLE  SAM,  HERE  I  AM" 

Some  men  will  call  this  service  sacrifice.  I  do 
not  so  regard  it.  I  regard  it  as  a  high  privilege 
given  to  men  who  own  the  primary  necessities  for 
this  war,  to  hand  it  over  freely,  in  a  large  spirit. 
I  call  it  a  privilege  to  serve,  and  there  is  not  a  man 
within  the  sound  of  my  voice  this  afternoon  who 
in  this  great  struggle  would  not  feel  that  he  was 
a  slacker  unless  he  had  the  right  and  the  privilege 
to  contribute  all  that  he  could  command  to  win 
this  war. 

So  I  come  this  afternoon,  not  to  urge  you  or 
exhort  you  to  any  sacrifice,  but  to  invite  you  to 
the  mountain  of  privilege,  the  privilege  of  giving 
to  your  country,  not  your  lives — though  if  this 
war  shall  last  long  no  age  limit  will  stand  between 
a  man  and  the  trenches — but  in  the  early  days  of 
this  war  to  congratulate  you  that,  as  your  boys  go 
to  the  front,  you  are  not  thinking  about  profits, 
you  are  not  thinking  about  business,  except  that 
the  price  you  receive  for  your  product  shall  stimu- 
late production  and  shall  enable  you  to  do  more 
for  the  service  of  your  country.  You  know  what 
you  can  do,  your  committee  working  day  and 
night  here  will  help  you,  and  I  assure  you  the 
Government  to  the  last  ounce  of  its  power,  with  a 
sense  of  appreciation,  with  a  sense  of  justice  and 
fairness,  will  cooperate  with  you  in  this  sacri- 
fice, if  you  so  call  it,  in  this  privilege  as  I  call  it, 
of  responding  quickly  and  generously  with  the 
prime  necessity  for  winning  this  war. 

[45] 


IV 


"A  PLACE  IN  THE  SUN" 


When  our  eyes  shall  turn  to  behold  for  the  last  time, 
the  sun  in  heaven  (to  paraphrase  Webster's  great  ora- 
tion), they  will  not  see  him  shining  on  a  world  in  the 
grasp  of  militarism,  with  its  accompaniment  of  nations 
drenched  in  blood.  Their  last  feeble  and  lingering  glance 
will  rather  behold  the  gorgeous  ensign  of  International 
Peace  through  arbitration  full  high  advanced  through- 
out the  earth,  its  arms  and  trophies  streaming  in  luster, 
not  a  thread  of  the  flag  of  any  nation  polluted  by  au- 
tocracy, not  a  single  star  or  emblem  obscured,  bearing 
its  motto,  "The  World  Safe  for  Democracy." 

Breaking  of  Ground  for  Government  Armor  Plate 
and  Projectile  Factory,  Charleston,  W.  Va.,  August  30, 
1917. 

THIS  is  no  ordinary  occasion.  It  is  far  more 
than  a  mere  gala  day  ceremony ;  it  is,  indeed,  his- 
toric in  the  deepest  and  broadest  sense  of  the 
word,  for  in  breaking  ground  at  this  time  for  the 
tremendous  addition  to  our  war  resources  which 
will  rise  here  in  the  near  future  I  give  the  visible 
proof  that  the  Navy  believes  that  in  preparing  for 
a  terrible  war  it  is  taking  the  surest  means  to 
bring  about  an  early  and  effective  peace.  Let 
there  be  no  fear  that  rumors  of  peace,  or  possibil- 
ities of  a  cessation  of  the  struggle  will  cause  us  to 

[46] 


"A  PLACE  IN  THE  SUN" 

remit  one  moment  our  activities  on  sea  and  shore, 
in  increasing  our  armament,  in  strengthening  our 
fleet,  and  in  every  way  preparing  for  the  conflict. 
Not  until  the  peace  treaty  is  actually  signed,  will 
we  remit  one  single  item  from  our  program  of 
preparation. 

Our  citizens  need  have  no  fear  that  we  will  be 
lulled  into  any  relaxation,  or  deceived  by  the 
mirage  of  peace  which  is  no  peace,  into  slacken- 
ing of  our  activities.  Within  a  month,  in  almost 
every  shipyard  of  the  country,  will  be  heard  the 
clang  of  hammers  as,  plate  by  plate,  there  rises 
on  the  stocks  the  lean  black  shapes  of  swift  and 
formidable  destroyers,  the  terror  of  the  subma- 
rine. Even  now,  as  we  stand  here,  did  we  but 
possess  some  magic  telephone,  we  could  hear  the 
thud  of  a  thousand  mighty  hammers  shaping  huge 
white  ingots  into  Navy  guns,  the  whir  of  a  hun- 
dred thousand  lathes  forming  the  shells  that  are 
our  answer  to  autocracy.  In  our  own  navy  yards, 
night  and  day,  the  work  goes  on  as  fast  as  human 
energy  can  drive.  There  has  been  sometimes 
complaint  that  we,  as  a  nation,  do  not  realize  that 
we  are  at  war,  but  you  may  rest  assured  that  the 
Navy  has  no  such  illusion.  As  we,  to-day,  start 
building  here  the  great  structures  that  will  house 
our  armorplate  manufactory  of  the  future,  so 
everywhere  the  Navy  is  preparing  to-day  for  that 
unknown  to-morrow,  and  will  continue  to  prepare. 

It  seems  hardly  necessary  for  me,  after  the 
wonderfully  clear  and  vigorous  declaration  of  our 

[47] 


THE  NAVY  AND  T.HE  NATION 

President,  to  attempt  to  define  what  we  are  fight- 
ing for.  I  think  it  is  now  clear  in  the  minds  of 
every  one  that  we  fight  not  only  for  our  own 
place,  but  for  the  place  of  every  democratic  na- 
tion, in  the  sunshine,  a  clear  life-giving  sunshine 
of  real  democracy,  of  real  government  for  the 
people,  by  the  people.  Germany  began  this  war 
for  "a  place  in  the  sun."  It  has  conducted  it  with 
the  idea  that  it  must  have  the  place  in  the  sun  and 
the  only  place.  We  believe  there  can  be  no  place 
in  the  sunshine  for  any  nation  upon  earth  under- 
neath the  ominous  shadow  of  the  Prussian  Eagle, 
no  sunshine  even  for  the  people  of  Germany  them- 
selves. The  historian  of  the  future  will  note  that 
in  fighting  for  the  right  to  live  and  grow  on  the 
part  of  our  own  people,  on  the  part  of  Belgium, 
on  the  part  of  all  the  democratic  nations  of  the 
earth,  we  are  fighting  also  the  great  battle  of  the 
people  of  the  German  Empire  themselves.  Un- 
moved by  possibility  of  material  advantage  or 
conquest,  patient  amid  aggravation  and  aggres- 
sion, hoping  against  hope  until  the  last  moment 
that  this  madness  of  the  Imperial  German  Gov- 
ernment would  pass  away,  America  has,  at  last, 
drawn  her  sword,  not  only  for  her  own  rights,  her 
own  existence,  but  for  the  very  existence  of  free- 
dom itself  upon  the  earth. 

The  question  even  now  when  we  are  summon- 
ing all  our  young  men  and  employing  all  our  re- 
sources in  the  war  "to  make  the  world  safe  for 

[48] 


"A  PLACE  IN  THE  SUN" 

democracy"  is  sometimes  asked,  "Why  did  Amer- 
ica enter  this  war  ?" 

The  one  and  complete  answer  and  justification 
is  that  it  demands  to  keep  its  place  in  the  sun — 
not  merely  for  itself,  for  its  place  is  so  firmly  fixed 
that  it  need  never  fear  that  any  planet  or  power 
will  shut  out  its  glow  and  glory ;  but  a  place  in  the 
sun  for  every  other  nation,  great  and  small,  a 
chance  for  all  people  to  govern  themselves  and 
work  out  their  own  destiny.  The  broad  expanse 
of  our  territory  from  ocean  to  ocean  is  blessed 
with  a  flood  of  sunshine  which  goldens  its  ripen- 
ing grain  in  a  million  fields;  which  smiles  upon 
our  great  cities  and  busy  factories  of  teeming  in- 
dustry ;  which  cheers  the  early  risen  workman  as 
he  hastens  to  his  toil  and  refreshes  the  jaded  trav- 
eler on  the  mountain  top  as  his  eyes  linger  to 
catch  the  last  golden  gleams  as  the  sun  sinks  to 
rest,  leaving  the  world  a  panorama  of  color  that 
is  almost  supernal. 

Three  years  ago,  when  the  wearers  of  crowns 
doomed  this  world  to  the  horrors  of  war,  the  Ger- 
man savants  and  philosophers  told  us  that  the 
time  had  come  when  their  nation  must  make  for 
itself  a  place  in  the  sun,  meaning  thereby  that  it 
was  not  satisfied  with  its  own  proud  place  of 
wealth  and  expansion,  but  that  it  coveted  the 
smaller  places  like  Belgium  and  the  larger  places 
like  France  and  wished  to  monopolize  the  wealth 
of  those  nations  which  were  content  with  their 
own  corner  and  had  no  envy  of  Germany's  grow- 

[49] 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

ing  wealth.  For  years  that  efficient  people  had 
seen  their  industries  multiply  and  their  commerce 
reach  the  furthest  shores,  bringing  back  to  the 
fatherland  riches  beyond  the  dreams  of  their  fore- 
bears. Nobody  envied  them  their  place  in  the 
sun.  Nobody  sought  to  limit  their  wealth.  The 
seas  were  free  to  their  large  fleets.  Every  port 
gave  them  shelter.  Every  country  beckoned  wel- 
come. Their  colonies  were  prosperous  and  sent 
their  most  precious  products  to  enrich  those  who 
lived  in  the  palaces  on  the  Rhine.  In  the  western 
hemisphere,  where  thousands  had  made  homes, 
there  was  pride  in  what  was  made  in  Germany 
and  what  the  skill  of  its  people  sent  to  American 
markets  found  ready  purchase.  The  bulk  of  the 
German  people  were  proud  of  all  they  had 
achieved,  were  happy,  contented  and  saw  not  the 
cloud  on  the  horizon  that  portended  the  coming 
storm.  But  the  feudal  barons,  ambitious  to  mo- 
nopolize all  the  rays  of  the  sun,  had  long  cher- 
ished the  aim  not  only  to  keep  their  own  place  in 
the  sun  but  to  take  from  others  their  portion  of  its 
warmth  and  light.  Militarism,  which  had  been 
hailed  as  the  handmaid  of  culture  and  efficiency, 
would  be  satisfied  with  nothing  less  than  world 
dominion.  The  weapons  had  been  forged.  Eager 
hands  were  ready  to  use  them.  Greed  for  power 
and  land,  lust  for  the  possessions  of  others,  the 
idealization  of  force,  and  the  vaulting  ambition 
that  the  Kaiser  should  be  supreme,  took  posses- 
sion of  the  Prussian  mind. 

[50] 


"A  PLACE  IN  THE  SUN" 

In  the  guise  of  knowledge,  science  and  indus- 
try, zest  for  mastery  of  the  continents  got  into 
the  blood  of  a  people  who  had  thrived  on  eras  of 
peace.  This  transformation  was  possible  only  in 
a  people  who  for  generations  had  been  fed  upon 
militarism  as  the  cure-all,  and  who  had  become 
steeped  in  the  creed — 

"The  good  old  rule  sufficeth  them ;  the  simple  plan, 
That  they  should  take  who  have  the  power 
And  they  should  keep  who  can." 

The  ascent  in  wealth  and  the  descent  in  ideals 
Prussianized  much  of  Germany,  and  when  the 
General  Staff  ran  its  hand  over  the  sword  and 
found  its  temper  as  they  had  hoped,  the  stunned 
world  gasped  as  it  saw  the  realization  of  the 
threat  which  the  world  little  recked  was  expressed 
in  German  feudal  militarism. 

"A  place  in  the  sun"  they  said  was  all  that  Ger- 
many wanted,  but  one  bloody  day  in  August,  when 
the  sun  was  shot  through  with  crimson,  presag- 
ing the  sea  of  blood,  the  world  looked  to  see  that 
it  was  not  the  worthy  and  laudable  aspiration  for 
"a  place  in  the  sun"  that  animated  the  German 
autocracy.  It  was  much  more  than  that.  It  be- 
came plain  that  nothing  would  satisfy  them  less 
than  the  place  in  the  sun,  and  the  only  place. 

It  was  in  the  spirit  of  adopting  the  sun  as  if  it 
were  "made  in  Germany,"  and  denying  to  all 
others  even  the  chance  to  feel  its  warmth,  that 
Prussianism  decreed  this  awful  war.  And,  while 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

thousands  of  home-loving  and  peace-loving  Ger- 
mans have  hated  war,  the  long  inculcated  spirit 
of  accepting  what  those  "born  booted  and  spurred 
to  ride  upon  the  backs  of  others"  decreed  for 
them,  closed  their  mouths  as  they  were  rushed  to 
slaughter  and  to  be  slaughtered.  Was  Goethe 
right  when  he  said,  an  hundred  years  ago,  that 
the  Germans  were  born  brutal  and  civilization 
would  make  them  savages? 

Germany  has  indeed  won  a  place  in  the  sun  and 
its  blistering  rays  beat  down  upon  it.  But  it  is 
not  a  place  in  that  "greater  light"  which  God 
made  "to  rule  the  day."  The  place  its  military 
measures  have  brought  is  in  the  sun  of  suffering 
and  anguish  and  death.  They  see  a  sun  dark- 
ened by  the  shadow  of  blood,  of  rage  and  wrong 
and  sin  which  have  followed  in  the  train  of  a 
worthy  ambition  debased  by  the  devouring  pas- 
sion for  Napoleonic  dominion.  The  Germany 
that  helped  to  send  Napoleon  to  St.  Helena  had  a 
place  in  the  sun — the  sun  of  resistance  to  vaulting 
ambition.  The  Germany  of  to-day  in  its  govern- 
ment, its  standards  lowered  by  long  vassalage  to 
the  Prussian  military  creed,  has  taken  the  place 
of  the  armies  of  Napoleon.  Napoleon  wanted  the 
world  at  his  feet.  His  militaristic  successor  re- 
solved that  the  sun  should  shine  upon  no  land  not 
under  his  sway.  History  will  repeat  itself,  and 
the  sun  shall  again  shine  upon  a  world  where 
every  nation  shall  be  blessed  by  its  light  and  heat, 
and  where  no  Colossus  shall  so  bestride  it  as  to 

[52] 


"A  PLACE  IN  THE  SUN" 

cast  his  shadow  upon  those  who  look  up  to  catch 
its  glorious  illumination. 

Three  years  ago,  as  the  oft  repeated  national 
aim  of  Germany  was  summed  up  in  the  shibboleth 
"a  place  in  the  sun,"  it  seemed  a  noble  ambition, 
for  its  scholars  and  artists  and  chemists  assured 
their  own  people  and  the  world  that  their  aim  was 
to  discover  the  secrets  of  nature,  to  end  waste,  to 
promote  efficiency,  to  make  the  State  the  agency 
for  the  culture  and  help  of  all.  What  higher  as- 
pirations could  animate  a  nation?  Under  its 
sway,  music  and  militarism  seemed  to  lie  down  to- 
gether, chemistry  and  big  guns  to  be  twin  broth- 
ers, Kultur  and  Krupp  to  be  inseparable,  and  the 
expansion  of  trade  to  be  joined  to  the  increase  of 
explosives.  The  Emperor  boasted  of  the  many 
years  of  peace  under  his  reign  which  had  made 
possible  a  greater  and  a  richer  Germany.  But  the 
germ  of  Krupp-Kultur  was  in  the  veins  of  the 
rulers  and  many  of  its  people  had  been  poisoned 
by  its  virus.  You  cannot  sharpen  an  ax  for  a 
decade  without  intending  to  use  it.  No  boy  can 
make  the  blade  of  his  knife  keen  without  a  yearn- 
ing to  see  how  deep  it  will  cut.  No  nation  can 
give  itself  over  to  militarism,  under  Prussian 
feudal  war  lords,  without  looking  for  and  permit- 
ting the  bringing  about  of  the  day  when  these 
weapons  will  be  used.  Prussian  love  of  war,  con- 
cealed in  talk  of  efficiency  and  veiled  in  the  de- 
mand for  "a  place  in  the  sun,"  had  reached  the 
logical  point  where  it  knew  it  must  dazzle  the 

[53] 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

people  by  victories  and  dominion  and  indemnities, 
or  lose  its  prestige.  They  had  tired  of  a  mere 
place  in  the  sun.  They  could  not  brook  that  neigh- 
bor nations,  small  and  unable  to  resist  their  ag- 
gressions, should  bask  in  the  same  sun  in  which 
they  grew  to  military  masterfulness. 

America  has  entered  this  war  for  a  place  in  the 
sun — not  for  itself,  but  that  the  sun  as  it  shines 
over  every  continent  and  island  will  rest  upon  no 
people  who  have  not  equal  rights  with  all  other 
people  to  govern  themselves — the  little  as  well  as 
the  big  to  bask  in  the  sunshine  of  free  govern- 
ment. The  place  in  the  sun  for  which  we  con- 
tend must  be  free  to  all,  with  no  jostling,  no  push- 
ing, no  crowding,  each  nation  enjoying  what  of 
light  has  come  to  it,  with  none  to  molest  or  make 
it  afraid. 

What  is  "a  place  in  the  sun"  for  a  nation?  It 
is  simply  the  recognition  of  the  truth  that  all 
governments  derive  their  just  powers  from  the 
consent  of  the  governed,  and  that  no  strong  na- 
tion must  be  permitted  to  take  from  a  small  na- 
tion one  iota  of  its  sunshine  of  rights,  liberties 
and  privileges.  Belgium,  in  any  world  where 
force  is  not  dominant,  could  be  as  secure  in  its 
sunshine  as  Russia  with  its  vast  expanse.  Not 
until  the  general  acceptance  of  that  principle  will 
any  nation  be  able  to  devote  itself  and  all  its  re- 
sources to  making  the  world  a  better  place  for 
men  to  live  in,  and  to  bring  about  conditions 
where  every  man  will  be  assured  of  the  fruits  of 

"[54] 


"A  PLACE  IN  THE  SUN" 

his  labor.  Just  as  long  as  one  powerful  nation, 
armed  to  the  teeth,  holds  to  the  doctrine  that  man 
was  made  for  the  state,  and  that  Might  makes 
Right,  just  so  long  must  all  peoples  subordinate 
peaceful  pursuits  to  making  ready  to  preserve 
their  own  liberty  and  the  freedom  of  all  mankind. 
The  day  of  deliverance  cannot  long  be  post- 
poned. Right  will  triumph  and  the  sun  of  Democ- 
racy will  send  its  rays  into  every  land  and  into 
every  home.  When  our  eyes  shall  turn  to  behold, 
for  the  last  time  (to  paraphrase  Webster's  great 
oration)  the  sun  in  heaven,  they  will  not  see 
him  shining  on  a  world  in  the  grasp  of  militarism, 
with  its  accompaniment  of  nations  drenched  in 
blood.  Their  last  feeble  and  lingering  glance  will 
rather  behold  the  gorgeous  ensign  of  Interna- 
tional Peace  through  arbitration  full  high  ad- 
vanced throughout  the  earth,  its  arms  and  tro- 
phies streaming  in  luster,  not  a  thread  of  the  flag 
of  any  nation  polluted  by  autocracy,  not  a  single 
star  or  other  emblem  obscured,  bearing  its  motto, 
'The  World  Safe  for  Democracy."  It  calls  for 
no  prophecy  to  see  this  Sun  of  Liberty  everywhere 
shining  in  the  effulgence  of  midday  glory,  its  flag 
spread  all  over  in  characters  of  living  light,  blaz- 
ing on  all  its  ample  folds,  as  they  float  over  the  sea 
and  over  the  land,  and  in  every  wind  under  the 
whole  heavens,  that  sentiment  dear  to  every  true 
patriotic  heart — Liberty  and  International  Fra- 
ternity, now  and  forever,  one  and  inseparable. 

[55] 


MEN   MUST  LIVE  STRAIGHT   IF  THEY  WOULD 
SHOOT  STRAIGHT 

"To-day  as  never  before  American  manhood  must  be 
clean  and  fit.  America  stands  in  need  of  every  ounce 
of  her  strength.  We  must  cut  out  the  cancer  of  disease 
if  we  would  live." 

Clinical  Congress  of  Surgeons  of  North  America,  Chi- 
cago, October  22,  1917. 

THERE  are  thousands  of  parents  in  America  to- 
day, with  sons  in  the  Army  and  Navy,  who  fear 
more  the  dangers  of  immoral  disease  than  Ger- 
man bullets.  Should  they  lose  their  sons  in  honor- 
able warfare  their  grief  would  be  tempered  with 
pride;  but  they  would  feel  dishonored  to  have 
their  boys  incapacitated  through  the  temptations 
of  the  camps  at  home  and  abroad. 

In  the  Navy  250,000  young  men  have  volun- 
teered. Most  of  them  are  mere  boys.  There  are 
a  million  young  men,  a  little  older,  in  the  Army. 
These  splendid  fellows  have  left  the  protection  of 
home  at  the  call  of  their  country.  Their  youth 
imposes  a  peculiar  responsibility  upon  govern- 
mental authority,  national,  state  and  municipal. 
Congress,  for  the  first  time  in  history,  has  recog- 

[56] 


MEN  MUST  LIVE  STRAIGHT 

nized  this  duty  by  legislation  which  seeks  to  mini- 
mize the  twin  evils  that  menace  men  in  uniform — 
alcohol  and  prostitution. 

The  Secretary  of  War  and  the  Secretary  of  the 
Navy,  recognizing  these  dangers,  have  exerted 
and  will  exert  every  influence  at  their  command  to 
safeguard  these  young  men.  We  have  appealed 
for  cooperation  to  the  civilian  population  in  those 
communities  where  training  stations  and  canton- 
ments prepare  the  men  for  war.  When  boys  liter- 
ally poured  into  the  Navy,  upon  the  declaration 
of  war,  I  felt  it  my  high  duty  to  keep  in  close  touch 
with  moral  conditions  in  communities  near  naval 
stations.  Where  complaints  of  bad  conditions 
were  received  I  called  them  sharply  to  the  atten- 
tion of  the  state  and  municipal  authorities,  and 
asked  for  assistance  and  cooperation  in  removing 
such  conditions.  I  am  happy  to  report  that  such 
assistance  has  in  most  cases  (though  sometimes,  I 
am  sorry  to  say,  there  was  lacking  the  spirit  that 
was  needed)  been  granted,  once  the  facts  were 
made  clear  and  the  community  involved  became 
convinced  that  the  Navy  Department  really  meant 
what  it  said.  Perhaps  my  attitude  in  this  matter 
can  best  be  illustrated  by  repeating  certain  por- 
tions of  my  statement  of  June  20,  1917,  when  I 
said : — 

"I  am  charged  with  the  duty  of  training  these  young 
men  for  service  in  the  Navy.  State  and  local  officers 
are  charged  with  the  duty  of  seeing  that  the  laws  of 
their  states  and  of  the  United  States  are  faithfully  exe- 

[57] 


THE  NAVY  AND  T.HE  NATION 

cuted.  There  lies  upon  us  morally,  to  a  degree  far  out- 
reaching  any  technical  responsibility,  the  duty  of  leav- 
ing nothing  undone  to  protect  these  young  men  from 
that  contamination  of  their  bodies  which  will  not  only 
impair  their  military  efficiency  but  blast  their  lives  for 
the  future  and  return  them  to  their  homes  a  source  of 
danger  to  their  families  and  to  the  community  at  large. 
"These  dangers  are  bad  enough  in  ordinary  times. 
They  are  multiplied  manifold  in  times  of  war,  when  great 
bodies  of  men  are  necessarily  gathered  together  away 
from  the  restraints  of  home,  and  under  the  stress  of 
emotions  whose  reactions  inevitably  tend  to  dislodge  the 
standards  of  normal  life,  and  the  harpies  of  the  under- 
world flock  to  make  profit  of  the  opportunity.  If  we 
fail  in  vigilance  under  these  conditions,  the  mothers  and 
fathers  of  these  lads,  and  the  country  generally,  will 
rightly  hold  us  responsible." 

Secretary  Baker's  identical  stand  is  summed  up 
in  his  sentence : — 

"Our  responsibility  in  this  matter  is  not  open  to  ques- 
tion. We  cannot  allow  these  young  men,  most  of  whom 
will  have  been  drafted  to  service,  to  be  surrounded  by 
a  vicious  and  demoralizing  environment,  nor  can  we 
leave  anything  undone  which  will  protect  them  from 
unhealthy  influences  and  crude  forms  of  temptation." 

In  order  that  my  information  as  to  actual  con- 
ditions near  Naval  stations  should  be  full  and  ac- 
curate, the  attitude  of  the  Navy  Department  fully 
explained  and  the  cooperation  of  such  communi- 
ties secured  if  possible,  I  appointed  a  Naval  Com- 
mission on  Training  Camp  Activities,  whose 
chairman  is  Raymond  B.  Fosdick.  A  similar 
commission  under  the  same  chairman  has  been 

[58] 


MEN  MUST  LIVE  STRAIGHT 

appointed  for  the  Army.  Through  these  com- 
missions we  are  keeping  in  touch  with  actual  con- 
ditions. By  bringing  these  conditions  to  the  at- 
tention of  the  authorities,  we  have  endeavored  to 
maintain  both  the  naval  training  stations  and  the 
cantonments  as  free  from  vice  and  drunkenness 
as  is  humanly  possible. 

These  training  camp  commissions  are  also 
working  along  constructive  lines  to  stimulate 
every  conceivable  form  of  recreation  and  enter- 
tainment among  soldiers  and  sailors.  Negative 
work  is  not  enough;  we  must  create  positively 
competitive  interests  to  replace  the  evils  we  are 
trying  to  eliminate.  For  that  reason  athletics  are 
encouraged,  club  houses  and  canteens  are  being 
erected,  and  soldiers  and  sailors  are  being  sur- 
rounded in  the  communities  nearby  with  home  in- 
fluences. These  constitute  some  of  the  very  effec- 
tive methods  we  are  using  in  our  campaign  against 
venereal  disease.  The  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association  and  other  like  organizations  are  lend- 
ing themselves  earnestly  to  bettering  conditions 
wherever  young  men  are  under  training. 

The  work  of  the  Army  and  Navy  in  the  repres- 
sion of  prostitution  and  alcohol  has  met  with 
most  encouraging  results.  Within  the  last  three 
months  "red  light"  districts  have  been  abolished 
in  eighteen  cities.  New  Orleans  has  passed  an 
ordinance  which  will  close  its  district  about  No- 
vember 1 5th.  Many  cities  in  which  no  such  dis- 
tricts exist  have,  at  the  instance  of  the  War  and 

[59] 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

Navy  Departments,  begun  a  vigorous  campaign 
against  scattered  houses  of  prostitution. 

In  establishing  these  purely  war  policies,  all 
government  branches  are  cooperating  and  are 
joining  in  an  appeal  to  the  American  public  to 
carry  out  in  civil  life  the  measures  which  alone 
can  complete  the  safeguarding  of  Army  and 
Navy.  It  is  a  great  satisfaction  to  be  able  to  say 
that  in  every  state,  civilian  organizations  are  real- 
izing that  their  part  of  the  campaign  against  ve- 
nereal disease  is  after  all  much  more  important 
than  that  of  the  Army  and  Navy. 

I  do  not  need  to  remind  you  medical  men  that 
8  per  cent  of  the  total  population  of  the  United 
States  is  probably  affected  by  syphilis,  and  that 
of  all  the  dangerous  communicable  diseases  gon- 
orrhea is  the  most  prevalent.  I  do  not  need  to 
dwell  upon  the  ravages  which  these  two  infectious 
and  controllable  diseases  are  daily  causing  in 
the  civilian  population.  If  I  have  emphasized  the 
interests  of  the  Navy  it  is  because  those  interests 
are  my  particular  charge,  but  I  wish  to  repeat 
that  the  Navy  can  be  fully  safeguarded  only  in 
one  way,  namely,  by  the  attack  on  the  strong- 
holds of  venereal  infection  in  civil  life.  Sir  Wil- 
liam Osier,  a  competent  authority  and  no  sensa- 
tionalist, once  declared  that  syphilis  was  the  third 
most  killing  disease  in  the  world.  If  we  lump  all 
he  venereal  diseases  together, — and  sociologically 
it  is  not  profitable  to  separate  them, — Dr.  Osier's 
statement  is  altogether  too  conservative.  As  far 

[60] 


MEN  MUST  LIVE  STRAIGHT 

as  military  affairs  are  concerned,  the  venereal  dis- 
eases are  much  more  dangerous  than  all  other  dis- 
eases put  together.  Including  both  direct  and  in- 
direct effects,  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  in 
many  cases  venereal  diseases  have  done  more 
harm  than  all  other  diseases.  I  am  glad  to  say 
that,  because  in  most  instances  requests  to  state 
and  local  authorities  have  found  a  responsive 
chord ;  although  much  remains  to  be  done,  condi- 
tions have  improved;  and  at  last  the  American 
people  are  awake  to  the  necessity  of  facing 
squarely  the  social  evil  that  is  the  greatest  foe  of 
military  efficiency. 

Venereal  diseases  are  contagious  diseases,  but, 
unlike  other  contagious  diseases,  their  mode  of  in- 
fection is  volitional.  There  are  three  factors 
which  have  had  the  largest  influence  in  the  spread 
of  these  diseases  in  the  military  service.  These 
factors  may  be  grouped  under  the  general  head- 
ings of  Ignorance,  Intemperance  and  Indifference. 

We  must  meet  Ignorance  by  a  sane  and  well  di- 
rected campaign  of  education;  the  Navy  has 
sought  to  do  this  by  advisory  circulars  given  to 
each  recruit,  and  by  pamphlets  and  other  litera- 
ture which  appeal  to  the  man's  best  nature  and  tell 
concisely  how  these  diseases  are  contracted,  and 
their  dangers  not  only  to  the  men  but  to  innocent 
members  of  their  families. 

Intemperance  has  long  played  the  role  of  pro- 
moting prostitution  and  thus  increasing  the 
spread  of  venereal  disease.  The  Government  has 

[61] 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

endeavored  to  reduce  this  menace  by  eliminating 
alcoholic  beverages  from  the  cantonment  and 
training  station  zones  of  the  Army  and  Navy,  and 
this  measure  not  only  will  help  to  control  vene- 
real diseases  but  will  undoubtedly  have  other 
beneficial  effects  on  the  progress  of  training. 

Indifference  has  always  been  a  most  difficult 
factor  to  combat.  In  some  cases  it  may  be  only 
casual,  occasioned  by  the  man's  willingness  to 
take  a  chance;  but  there  is  another  class  which 
cannot  be  impressed  with  the  fear  of  venereal 
diseases  or  their  consequences.  We  have  tried  to 
meet  this  indifference  by  regulations  providing 
for  stoppage  of  pay  during  the  period  that  the 
man  is  ill  with  venereal  disease.  The  regulation 
for  the  Navy  went  into  effect  last  fall  and  it  is 
somewhat  early  to  show  its  beneficial  results. 
There  has,  however,  been  a  much  lower  rate  of 
venereal  disease  since  the  regulation  was  passed, 
and  we  feel  reasonably  certain  that  the  benefit 
will  be  even  more  evident  when  the  statistics  for 
a  full  year  are  available.  In  the  Army  a  regula- 
tion providing  for  the  stoppage  of  pay,  passed  in 
1912,  resulted  in  a  decrease  in  the  venereal  rate, 
of  from  145  per  thousand  in  1911  to  approxi- 
mately 86  per  thousand  in  1913,  the  year  follow- 
ing the  passage  of  the  act.  In  1915  the  rate  was 
only  about  84  per  thousand. 

In  peace  the  loss  to  efficiency  from  venereal  dis- 
ease is  beyond  calculation.  We  have  no  accurate 
statistics.  A  Canadian  authority  declares  that  in 


MEN  MUST  LIVE  STRAIGHT 

1915,  while  nine  Canadian  soldiers  abroad  died 
every  hour  to  save  their  country,  twelve  babies 
died  at  home  in  the  same  time  to  the  scandal  of 
their  country.  Venereal  disease,  due  to  the  sin 
of  immoral  conduct, — let  us  have  done  with  shy- 
ing at  the  world-old  sin, — is  deadlier  than  tuber- 
culosis. It  is  deadlier  than  cancer.  War  itself 
counts  less  toll  of  human  life  than  this  infection, 
whose  ravages  are  more  fearful  than  the  Marne, 
Somme,  Verdun,  or  any  other  bloody  battlefield. 

From  every  nation  comes  evidence  in  support 
of  this  statement:  Sixty  thousand  under  treat- 
ment for  venereal  disease  mentioned  in  one  Aus- 
trian report ;  thirty-five  thousand  among  the  Ger- 
man forces  during  the  first  five  months  of  their 
occupation  of  Belgium;  seventy-eight  thousand 
reported  in  late  figures  from  the  British  army; 
French  reports  equally  disturbing.  If  we  could 
have  accurate  knowledge  of  the  men  sent  home  or 
to  the  rear  invalided,  or  of  the  decrease  in  effi- 
ciency of  men  not  put  out  of  the  ranks,  the  propor- 
tions would  shock  a  humiliated  people  in  every 
nation  engaged  in  war. 

Indeed,  there  is  no  army  whose  effectiveness  is 
not  reduced  by  reason  of  these  diseases,  whose  dis- 
semination is  so  clearly  linked  with  the  moral  haz- 
ards of  sexual  vice.  The  Navy  suffers  likewise, 
and  business  halts  because  venereal  disease  de- 
stroys the  manhood  of  workmen  and  fighters. 
During  the  last  statistical  year  men  of  the  Ameri- 
can Navy  lost  141,378  days  by  such  diseases. 

[63] 


THE  NAVY  AND  T,HE  NATION 

This  means  that  every  day  in  the  year  an  average 
of  456  men  were  disabled.  Add  to  that  number 
those  required  to  care  for  the  disabled,  and  we 
have  enough  men  constantly  on  the  non-effective 
list  to  man  a  modern  battleship.  And  this  does 
not  count  those  who,  while  diseased,  were  not  dis- 
abled, nor  the  evil  of  the  loathsome  danger  of  con- 
tagion to  the  clean  members  of  the  crew. 

This  condition  of  affairs  may  appear  to  be  a 
disgrace  to  the  Navy,  and  it  is ;  but  communities 
that  tolerate  houses  of  ill  fame,  and  fail  to  pro- 
vide for  the  treatment  of  these  diseases  cannot 
escape  sharing  the  disgrace  and  the  responsibility. 
Navy  surgeons  have  been  alert  to  point  out  the 
dangers  to  young  men  and  to  protect  them  from 
infection,  and  have  left  nothing  undone  to  heal 
those  infected.  This  service  is  required  and  al- 
ways given,  no  matter  how  revolting  is  the  dis- 
ease. It  must  be  remembered  that  the  venereal 
diseases  of  which  I  am  now  speaking  are  not  con- 
tracted on  board  ship,  but  ashore  in  the  surround- 
ing civil  life — hence  the  need  that  doctors  and  all 
civilians  cooperate. 

This  danger  to  a  fleet  naturally  varies  in  dif- 
ferent places.  One  ship  in  the  Far  East  last 
year  reported  that  44  per  cent  of  the  crew  became 
infected  with  venereal  disease  of  some  kind  dur- 
ing the  cruise.  It  is  not  confined  to  enlisted  men. 
It  is  no  respecter  in  civilian  or  military  life  of 
rank  or  station.  The  most  tragic  result  of  this 
evil  that  has  come  to  my  attention  is  one  case  in 

[64] 


MEN  MUST  LIVE  STRAIGHT 

recent  years  where  a  young  man  had  to  leave  the 
Navy  because  his  life  had  been  blighted  by  the  in- 
heritance of  this  contamination.  He  was  clean 
himself  but  suffered  by  the  conduct  of  others.  I 
never  knew  of  a  more  terrible  fulfillment  of  the 
law  that  the  sins  of  the  father  are  visited  upon  the 
children.  The  tragedy  of  it ! 

The  remedy:  There  is  but  one — continence; 
other  measures  are  but  palliative,  however  useful 
for  the  present.  For  ages,  with  criminal  blind- 
ness, there  has  been  a  shrugging  of  the  shoulders, 
and  many  men,  and  a  few  women,  have  seemed 
not  to  regard  the  sowing  of  wild  oats  as  a  sin,  for- 
getting that  in  the  physical  as  well  as  in  the  spiri- 
tual world  it  is  true  that  "Whatsoever  a  man 
soweth  that  shall  he  also  reap."  We  need  impress 
young  men  with  this  fact  that  sowing  wild  oats 
means  reaping  blind  babies,  and  that  not  only  do 
the  sins  of  youth  give  an  old  age  of  senility  to 
him,  but  a  heritage  of  invalidism  and  defective 
posterity  to  his  wife.  Continence  of  young  men 
must  be  preached  in  the  home,  in  the  school,  in  the 
marts  of  trade,  in  the  pulpit  and  military  camps, 
and  among  shipmates  afloat.  But,  gentlemen  of 
what  I  regard  as  the  noblest  profession,  I  beg  you 
to  remember  that  the  teacher  who  will  be  heard 
and  heeded  when  the  teachings  of  all  others  fall 
on  deaf  ears  is  the  physician  and  surgeon.  Young 
men  expect  ministers  of  the  gospel  to  call  them  to 
clean  living.  The  preacher  seeks  to  save  their 
souls,  and  too  many  youths  hardly  realize  they 

[65] 


THE  NAVY  AND  T#E  NATION 

have  souls.  But  they  know  they  have  bodies,  and 
the  doctor  is  the  man  to  whom  they  entrust  the 
treatment  of  their  bodies.  When  he  preaches  con- 
tinence as  the  only  rule  of  life  to  young  men,  and 
points  out  the  dire  penalty  for  lapses,  his  words 
have  a  weight  no  other  admonition  possesses. 

You,  gentlemen  of  the  medical  profession,  deal 
with  life  and  death.  You  bring  the  babies  into 
the  world  and  you  close  the  eyes  of  the  dead. 
Yours  is  the  ministering  function,  the  intimate 
touch,  and  out  of  such  relations  you  can  exercise 
an  amazing  power  of  suggestion.  It  is  this  power 
that  America  calls  upon  you  to  use.  Tell  our 
youths  the  truth.  It  is  a  duty  laid  upon  you,  not 
by  the  moral  law  alone,  but  by  the  law  of  self-pres- 
ervation that  operates  in  nations  as  well  as  in  in- 
dividuals. That  duty  is  imperative  upon  you  now 
as  never  before.  If  you  perform  it,  and  our 
young  soldiers  and  sailors  heed  your  wise  coun- 
sel,— and  many  of  them  will  follow  your  teach- 
ings with  lasting  gratitude, — you  will  contribute 
more  to  the  winning  of  the  war  than  manufac- 
turers of  shells. 

Addressing  medical  men,  I  would  stress  the 
medical  side  of  the  campaign  against  venereal  dis- 
eases, though  I  do  not  mean  to  have  it  inferred 
that  I  think  the  medical  aspect  of  the  question  is 
more  important  than  the  fundamental  moral 
issue. 

The  whole  program  for  the  protection  of  the 
officers  and  men  of  the  Navy  (and  the  same  ap- 

[66] 


MEN  MUST  LIVE  STRAIGHT 

plies  to  the  Army  and  civil  life),  from  the  moral 
and  physical  contamination  of  vice  and  drunken- 
ness, depends  to  a  great  extent  on  the  cooperation 
of  the  medical  profession.  Much  of  the  misin- 
formation, under  which  the  average  man  is  labor- 
ing, originated  with  those  doctors  who  in  the  past 
have  advised,  and  those  medical  quacks  who  still 
advise,  that  continence  is  harmful  and  that  sexual 
intercourse  is  necessary  to  health.  Of  course  the 
exact  opposite  is  the  truth,  as  was  evidenced  by 
the  resolutions  of  an  eminent  body  of  physicians 
recently  called  into  consultation  by  the  General 
Medical  Board  of  the  Council  of  National  De- 
fense. These  resolutions  which  were  presented 
to  the  Advisory  Committee  of  the  Council  of  Na- 
tional Defense,  and  approved  April  21,  1917,  con- 
tained the  statement  that  the  Departments  of 
War  and  Navy  officially  recognized  that  sexual 
continence  is  compatible  with  health  and  the  only 
sure  preventive  of  venereal  infections.  Two 
months  later  the  House  of  Delegates  of  the  Amer- 
ican Medical  Association  unanimously  adopted 
resolutions  embodying  the  same  sentiments. 

In  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  vast  preponderance 
of  intelligent  medical  opinion  of  this  country  is 
thus  on  record  that  continence  is  entirely  com- 
patible with  health,  and  is  the  only  sure  guarantee 
from  venereal  disease,  there  are  still  a  few  doc- 
tors, both  within  and  without  the  Army  and  Navy, 
who  believe  in  the  old  outworn  doctrine  of  self- 
indulgence.  So  unmindful  of  their  duty  have 

[67] 


THE  NAVY  AND  TJIE  NATION 

some  doctors  been,  and  so  impervious  to  the  best 
medical  and  social  thought  on  this  subject,  that 
I  have  recently  found  it  necessary  to  make  an 
example  of  one  physician  in  the  Navy  who  was 
outspoken  in  criticism  of  the  enlightened  policy 
of  the  Navy  Department,  which  insists  on  the 
protection  of  the  men  from  the  baleful  influence 
of  vice  and  its  attendant  diseases. 

Prostitution  and  its  twin  brother,  drunkenness, 
must  be  fought  vigorously  and  unceasingly  until 
they  have  become  anachronisms.  In  a  generation 
we  shall  probably  regard  them  as  relics  of  bar- 
barism and  wonder  how  any  community  could 
ever  have  tolerated  practises  which  took  such  ter- 
rible toll  of  health,  happiness  and  life  itself,  that 
filled  our  insane  asylums,  jails  and  hospitals,  and 
left  behind  them  a  trail  of  social  devastation  hor- 
rible to  contemplate. 

Continence  is  no  longer  a  matter  of  morals 
only,  though  it  must  be  enforced  as  the  cardinal 
doctrine  of  morals.  It  has  come  to  be  seen  as 
having  its  base  in  the  great  law  of  nature.  New 
truths  must  take  the  place  of  ancient  lies.  We 
know  now  by  the  testimony  of  science  that  there 
is  no  foundation  for  a  double  standard  for  the 
sexes.  To  preach  it  is  to  preach  immorality  and  a 
lowering  of  manhood.  The  lie  that  has  lived  so 
long  must  be  driven  out  by  the  truth. 

We  are  fighting  for  the  safety  of  democracy. 
Victory  is  jeopardized  by  the  preventable  diseases 
which  destroy  the  fighting  strength  of  armies  and 

[68] 


MEN  MUST  LIVE  STRAIGHT 

navies.  It  is  our  task  to  preach  clean  lives  so  as 
also  to  make  democracy  worth  fighting  for.  We 
stand  for  a  democracy  which,  while  recognizing 
man's  inherent  right  to  self-government,  insists 
that  that  right  carries  with  it  obligations  to  the 
State,  most  sacred  in  character.  Those  obliga- 
tions require  the  individual  to  curb  his  passions 
and  exercise  self-restraint  in  order  that  the  insti- 
tution of  the  family,  which  is  the  fountain-head 
of  the  State,  and  from  which  springs  all  our 
noblest  inspirations,  shall  remain  pure  and  unde- 
filed. 

I  call  upon  the  medical  profession,  both  within 
and  without  the  Army  and  Navy,  better  qualified 
by  knowledge  and  better  equipped  than  any  other 
body  of  men  with  influence  and  power,  to  assume 
leadership  in  this  righteous  crusade.  Where  you 
lead,  government  will  follow,  and  the  people  will 
heed  your  direction  when  they  will  be  deaf  to  the 
clarion  call  of  all  others. 

To-day  as  never  before  American  manhood 
must  be  clean  and  fit.  America  stands  in  need  of 
every  ounce  of  her  strength.  We  must  cut  out  the 
cancer  of  disease  if  we  would  live. 


[69] 


VI 

YOUTH'S    COURAGE  AND   SACRIFICE 

We  cannot  do  honor  to  these  young  lads.  They  have 
passed  to  abide  with  the  immortals.  We  can  only  gain 
strength  for  ourselves  from  their  courage  and  their  calm 
willingness  to  die.  Out  of  their  sublime  contribution 
must  come  a  new  spirit  that  will  gird  us  to  follow  them 
until  a  victory  for  humanity  shall  make  their  sacrifice 
more  glorious. 

Naval  Memorial  Service,  Washington  Navy  Yard,  Oc- 
tober 28, 


As  Captain  Willard  read  the  list  of  our  dead 
heroes  I  am  certain  that  we  were  all  impressed  by 
the  youth  of  these  lads.  Nearly  all  of  them  were 
born  in  that  last  war  in  which  this  Republic  was 
engaged.  It  emphasized  the  fact  that  the  Navy  is 
a  youthful  service.  When  the  Fleet  went  around 
the  world  the  average  age,  counting  the  Admiral, 
was  less  than  20  years,  and  as  we  meet  to-day  in 
obedience  to  the  proclamation  of  the  Commander- 
in-Chief  of  the  Navy  to  commemorate  the  heroism 
of  these  lads,  we  think  of  them  not  as  if  they  had 
passed  away  from  us  or  as  if  they  were  lost,  but 
we  think  of  them  as  suddenly  having  ascended  to 
the  stars  and  living  among  the  immortals. 

There  is  something  about  youth  which  compels 

[70] 


YOUTH'S  COURAGE  AND  SACRIFICE 

admiration — its  buoyancy,  its  faith,  its  abandon 
of  self.  It  is  an  inspiration  to  those  of  us  who  are 
older  grown,  and  when  I  think  of  these  boys  gone 
into  the  Great  Beyond  before  they  had  reached 
maturity,  I  reflect  how  great  was  their  contribu- 
tion to  the  liberty  of  the  world,  and  how  large  is 
our  debt  to  them. 

Recently  men  in  America  have  been  called  upon 
to  make  contribution  of  their  means  or  of  their 
savings  that  the  work  begun  by  these  youths  shall 
not  end.  We  have  highly  resolved  that,  old  and 
young,  we  are  consecrated  to  the  holy  service 
upon  which  we  have  entered  and  it  will  not  be 
finished  for  us  until  the  liberty  won  by  the  fath- 
ers for  America  shall  touch  the  remotest  isles  of 
the  sea.  These  young  men  have  given  more  than 
all  the  rest  because  they  gave  not  only  all  they  had 
but  all  they  hoped  to  be.  Let  us  reverence  youth, 
let  us  this  morning  have  a  new  conception  of  the 
possibilities  of  the  glory  of  young  manhood  and 
venerate  and  respect  and  honor  it  as  we  have 
never  done  before,  because  in  the  Navy,  in  the 
Marine  Corps,  in  the  Army,  if  you  examine  the 
roster  you  will  find  that  this  republic  is  looking 
mainly  to  boys,  many  of  them  not  yet  out  of  their 
teens,  the  bulk  of  them  under  twenty-five  years, 
as  the  strength  and  stay  of  the  nation.  As  we 
go  upon  our  ships,  as  we  pass  through  this  Naval 
station,  as  we  salute  these  youngsters,  walking 
care- free  and  often,  as  we  think,  not  impressed 
with  the  seriousness  of  the  great  work  which  they 


THE  NAVY  AND  T.HE  NATION 

are  called  upon  to  do,  let  us  doff  our  hats  to  them, 
and  let  us  feel  about  them  as  did  President  Gar- 
field  when  he  said:  "I  never  pay  particular  respect 
to  a  man.  I  know  what  he  is  and  what  he  has 
done.  When  I  meet  a  youth,  I  take  my  hat  off  to 
him  because  I  see  in  him  perhaps  the  savior  of 
his  country."  Our  records  have  shown  that  in 
a  great  crisis  we  seldom  have  the  ken  to  point  out 
the  man  who  will  shine  in  the  firmament.  The 
hero  among  us  is  often  the  man  polishing  the 
brass  on  a  ship  or  standing  guard  or  performing 
some  service  not  regarded  as  important.  We  look 
upon  these  services  as  commonplace  and  yet, 
when  the  moment  comes,  the  time  that  tests  men's 
souls,  he  is  transformed  by  a  glorious  deed. 

These  lads  whose  memory  we  honor  this  morn- 
ing are  of  a  profession  and  a  service  that  has,  in 
nearly  every  war,  had  the  sacred  and  solemn 
honor  of  making  supreme  sacrifice  for  the  coun- 
try. The  first  line  of  service  has  been  the  first 
line  of  sacrifice. 

In  one  of  his  poems  telling  of  the  English  sol- 
diers when  cholera  swept  the  camp,  Kipling  says, 
or  rather  Kipling  puts  into  the  mouth  of  a  sol- 
dier to  say  of  his  hard  task,  "It  ain't  no  Christ- 
mas dinner,  but  it's  served  and  we  must  eat."  I 
have  no  such  conception  of  these  lads  who  went 
to  their  death.  It  was  not  "served"  to  them  and 
they  did  not  take  the  cup  because  it  could  not 
be  passed.  Not  one  of  them  waited  to  be  called. 
Each  ran  to  meet  Duty  and  went  to  his  reward  un- 

[72] 


YOUTH'S  COURAGE  AND  SACRIFICE 

afraid.  In  the  ardor  of  youth,  meeting  death  in 
daring  for  a  holy  cause,  we  have  found  in  recent 
days  that  the  fire  of  liberty  blazes  as  brightly  in 
America  in  our  day  as  in  the  days  of  the  Revo- 
lution. Each  one  of  these  valiant  youths  whose 
memories  we  honor  went  of  his  own  accord  to  his 
rigorous  duty.  When  the  hour  came  he  was 
ready.  And  their  comrades  who  are  to  fight  other 
battles  and  win  greater  victories  are  of  the  same 
sterling  stuff. 

"Their  feats,  their  fortunes  and  their  fames 
Are  hidden  from  their  nearest  kin; 
No  eager  public  backs  or  blames, 
No  journal  prints  the  yarns  they  spin ; 
Unheard  they  work,  unseen  they  win." 

I  am  one  of  those  who  believe  that  religion  and 
patriotism  are  one  and  inseparable,  now  and  for- 
ever. When  a  man  takes  upon  himself  the  peri- 
lous duty  of  going  upon  a  naval  vessel  in  the  zone 
of  danger,  there  rises  from  his  heart,  either 
spoken  or  unspoken,  a  prayer  for  guidance,  a 
prayer  for  salvation,  a  prayer  that  he  shall  have 
the  courage  to  measure  up  to  the  high  traditions 
of  the  service  and  be  entitled  to  be  numbered  with 
the  noble  men  who  have  made  sacrifices  in  all  the 
history  of  our  Navy.  So  we  think  of  them  not  as 
young  men  called  by  somebody  to  make  this  su- 
preme sacrifice.  We  think  of  them  as  going 
forth,  their  hearts  full  of  love  of  country  and 
their  fellows,  willing  to  risk  any  danger,  equal  to 

[73] 


THE  NAVY  AND  T,HE  NATION 

any  emergency,  eager  for  any  service  that  they 
might  report  themselves  in  the  great  assize  of  the 
skies  as  Americans,  as  patriots,  as  worshipers  of 
the  Almighty. 

In  this  presence  we  pay  tribute  first  of  all  to  a 
young  man  who  went  out  from  this  Yard,  from 
this  Station,  from  the  Dolphin,  John  Eopolucci. 
In  the  bloom  of  youth,  passing  day  by  day  through 
these  streets  and  doing  his  duty  faithfully  upon 
his  ship,  he  was  ready  to  go  even  before  we  de- 
clared war,  when  the  lives  of  our  merchantmen 
were  in  danger,  as  one  of  an  armed  guard.  First 
in  the  foremost  line,  he  went  down  with  the  Aztec 
on  April  I,  1917,  the  pioneer  of  those  immortals 
who  have  given  their  lives  for  the  Cause. 

Since  that  time  a  larger  Navy  and  a  great 
Army  have  sprung  into  being.  But  it  is  not  only 
the  men  of  our  armed  forces,  not  only  the  officers 
ready  to  lead  where  duty  may  command,  it  is  our 
whole  nation  that  is  enlisted  and  mobilized.  I 
sometimes  think  that  it  is  the  women,  the  mothers, 
the  sisters,  the  wives,  who  give  most  and  sacri- 
fice most.  I  love  to  recall  the  story  of  that  brave 
woman  in  the  decisive  Battle  of  Lake  Champlain, 
the  wife  of  a  musician,  who,  when  her  husband 
had  been  killed,  took  his  place,  walking  undaunted 
over  his  dead  body  that  she  might  do  a  valiant 
part  to  win  the  victory. 

War  is  a  serious  thing  and  we  have  entered 
upon  it  in  America  with  no  lightness  but  with  a 
feeling  and  determination  that  life  is  a  sweet 

[74] 


YOUTH'S  COURAGE  AND  SACRIFICE 

thing,  dear  to  us.  But  dearer  than  life  is  the  duty 
every  man  owes  his  country,  and  the  larger  and 
glorious  privilege  which  men  have  of  dying  for 
such  a  country,  a  country  whose  flag  has  never 
been  raised  in  any  cause  that  was  selfish,  that 
was  small  or  mean.  When  he  fights  under  that 
ensign  it  is  a  flag  of  freedom,  of  independence. 
In  the  Spanish-American  War  it  was  a  flag  of 
hope,  a  beacon  of  promise  to  our  near  neighbors 
in  the  Island  of  Cuba,  and  when  that  war  ended 
and  we  had  made  sacrifices  as  we  are  making 
them  now,  the  world  stood  uncovered  because  this 
nation  sought  no  selfish  return.  Its  only  spirit 
and  purpose  was  to  secure  peace,  happiness  and 
home  rule  to  a  long  suffering  island.  And  in  this 
war,  when  it  is  ended  and,  we  shall  look  back  upon 
it  to  a  world  freed  from  greed,  from  autocracy, 
when  all  the  earth  enjoys  the  blood-bought  right 
of  self-government  so  precious  to  us,  as  we  then 
think  about  the  peace  gained  will  you  also  reflect 
that  there  is  nothing  in  the  world  worth  while 
that  has  not  cost  blood  and  travail  and  sacrifice  ? 
We  cannot  do  honor  to  these  young  lads.  They 
have  passed  to  abide  with  the  immortals.  We  can 
only  gain  strength  for  ourselves  from  their  cour- 
age and  their  calm  willingness  to  die.  Out  of 
their  sublime  contribution  must  come  a  new  spirit 
that  will  gird  us  to  follow  them  until  a  victory 
for  humanity  shall  make  their  sacrifice  more  glo- 
rious. Let  us  here  this  morning  resolve  that  they 
shall  not  have  died  in  vain,  and  as  we  give  our 

[75] 


THE  NAVY  AND  TJIE  NATION 

loving  sympathy  to  those  who  loved  them  most, 
and  as  this  nation  pledges  itself  that  it  will  never 
permit  wife  or  mother  of  sailor  or  soldier  to  be 
in  want,  but  will  give  out  of  its  large  prosperity 
all  that  may  be  needed  to  prove  the  gratitude  of 
this  grateful  Republic,  let  us  all  utter  a  prayer, 
the  prayer  which  Kipling  made — 

"The  earth  is   full  of  anger, 

The  seas  are  dark  with  wrath, 
The  nations  in  their  harness 

Go  up  against  our  path: 
Ere  yet  we  loose  the  legions — 

Ere  yet  we  draw  the  blade, 
Jehovah  of  the  Thunders, 

Lord  God  of  Battles,  aid!" 


[76] 


TO   MAKE,    NOT   BREAK,    PRISONERS 

In  the  Navy  discipline  is  essential  for  effectiveness. 
It  is  so  in  the  family  ;  it  is  so  in  life,  and  I  think  that  in 
this  age  the  one  thing  needed  more  than  anything  else 
in  the  home,  in  the  school,  in  the  Navy  and  everywhere 
is  an  acceptance  that  efficiency,  strength  and  self-re- 
liance depend  upon  discipline,  and  the  only  discipline  that 
is  perfect,  or  as  near  perfect  as  can  be,  is  self-discipline. 

Old-time  methods  of  punishment  have  passed  away. 
It  is  with  you  to  say  what  you  will  do  with  your  lives. 

Portsmouth  (N.  H.)  Naval  Prison,  Sunday,  Novem- 
ber 18, 


I  HAVE  sometimes  said  that  if  anything  could 
cause  me  to  doubt  the  goodness  of  God  it  would 
be  that  He  gives  to  boys  the  passions  of  men 
without  the  mature  strength  of  manhood.  I  know 
boys.  I  know  their  temptations,  and  their  weak- 
nesses, and  I  know  particularly  how  those  tempta- 
tions assail  young  men  away  from  home.  I  some- 
times think  this  world  would  almost  revert  to  the 
savagery  of  old  if  it  were  not  for  the  better  in- 
fluences of  our  mothers  and  of  the  women  of  our 
families  which  uphold  and  make  us  strong.  Be- 
cause of  our  love  for  them  we  put  behind  us  our 
temptations. 

[77] 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

When  they  leave  home  in  young  manhood  and 
boyhood,  without  these  helpful  sources  and  those 
"apron  strings,"  so  to  speak,  on  their  hearts, 
many  lose  themselves.  You  often  hear  it  said 
that  a  man  has  "lost  himself."  But  that  is  not 
a  correct  expression.  If  a  man  goes  into  the 
forest  and  gets  lost,  he  says  he  has  lost  himself. 
The  fact  is  he  has  lost  everything  except  himself. 
And  so  it  is  with  young  men.  We  say  "they  lose 
themselves."  They  do,  indeed,  lose  control  of 
themselves.  They  lose  realization  of  themselves. 

In  the  Navy,  discipline  is  essential  for  effec- 
tiveness. It  is  so  in  the  family;  it  is  so  in  life, 
and  I  think  that  in  this  age  the  one  thing  that  is 
needed  more  than  anything  else  in  the  home,  in 
the  school,  in  the  Navy  and  everywhere  is  an 
acceptance  that  efficiency,  strength  and  self-re- 
liance depend  upon  discipline ;  and  the  only  disci- 
pline that  is  perfect,  or  as  near  perfect  as  can  be, 
is  self-discipline. 

That  is  what  most  of  you  have  lacked.  You 
have  not  put  a  curb  upon  your  appetite,  your  pas- 
sions or  your  desires,  and  you  have  made  mis- 
takes; mistakes  that  you  have,  no  doubt,  every 
one  of  you  regretted.  If  we  have  the  strength  in 
us  of  rehabilitation  and  right  thinking,  we  regret 
the  mistakes.  But  unfortunately  there  is  a  dif- 
ference between  the  man  and  the  weakling.  The 
man  who  makes  a  mistake  seeks  to  repair  it.  The 
man  who  commits  a  wrong  has  wisdom  and  judg- 
ment, knows  he  must  pay  the  penalty  for  it,  and 

[78] 


TO  MAKE,  NOT  BREAK,  PRISONERS 

he  does  not  take  the  penalty  as  something  im- 
posed upon  him  as  a  punishment,  but  as  a  signal 
and  a  help  to  right-about-face  and  walk  toward 
the  light. 

You  were  not  brought  here  for  punishment, 
but  to  come  face  to  face  with  yourselves ;  to  look 
into  your  hearts  and  minds  and  reflect  upon 
what  you  have  done.  No  one  looks  down  upon 
you,  no  one  regards  you  as  having  committed  an 
offense  that  must  forever  bar  you  from  society. 
Here  you  have  opportunity  to  strengthen  your 
character  and  your  purpose  that  you  may  go  forth 
from  here  into  life  through  this  discipline  strong- 
er and  better  men.  You  have  seen  men  whose 
faces  had  lines  of  pain,  suffering  or  sorrow  upon 
them,  but  in  their  hearts  the  very  suffering  they 
had  endured  had  purified  them. 

In  the  work  in  the  Navy  we  must  have  disci- 
pline, and  if  the  men  have  not  put  discipline  upon 
themselves  it  must  be  imposed  upon  them.  There 
will  not  be  much  need  of  enforcing  discipline  if 
young  men  acknowledge  the  necessity  of  keeping 
step  in  marching,  and  in  work,  and  in  keeping 
their  minds  upon  their  duty. 

So  I  have  come  this  morning  to  spend  a  few 
hours  with  you  because  of  my  deep  interest  in 
American  manhood  and  particularly  the  men  who 
responded  to  the  call  of  the  Navy. 

We  have  a  great  personnel  in  the  Navy;  we 
have  many  young  men  who  have  in  them  the  mak- 
ing of  fine  sailors  but  who  have  failed  to  do 

[79] 


THE  NAVY  AND  T,HE  NATION 

right.  You  have,  by  a  false  step  or  by  an 
immature  and  rash  act,  violated  regulations,  and 
made  it  impossible  for  you  to  perform  the  duties 
you  were  called  upon  to  do.  I  am  here  this  morn- 
ing to  tell  you  boys  that,  as  the  head  of  the  Navy 
for  the  time  being,  I  have  the  deepest  interest  in 
you  and  the  most  earnest  desire  that  every  one 
of  you  shall  say  to  yourselves,  "I  will  persevere 
in  my  hope;  I  will  strengthen  myself;  I  will  put 
aside  from  me  everything  except  duty,  honesty, 
and  straightforwardness  and  respect  for  author- 
ity, which  is  the  basis  of  all  law ;  I  will  go  into 
life,  and  this  detention  will  be  to  me  the  strength- 
ening of  my  spirit  and  purpose  to  make  a  man 
of  myself." 

This  must  be  your  spirit  and  purpose.  Be- 
cause of  my  great  interest  in  young  men  like  you 
I  asked  Mr.  Osborne  to  come  to  Portsmouth  and 
make  a  thorough  study  of  what  I  call  "modern 
methods"  of  dealing  with  young  men  who  have 
made  mistakes  or  have  done  wrong.  The  policy 
of  the  Navy  is  to  make,  not  break,  prisoners.  I 
know  you  feel  that  in  Mr.  Osborne  and  the  officers 
there  is  human  interest  in  you.  We  are  all  hop- 
ing and  praying  that  the  God  in  the  Heavens  will 
give  you  new  strength  and  new  courage  to  go 
out  from  this  place  strengthened  in  soul  and 
strengthened  in  purpose,  to  do  again  what  you 
had  the  ambition  to  do  when  you  came  into  the 
service.  Old  time  methods  of  punishment  have 
passed  away,  never  to  return.  It  is  with  you  to 

[80] 


TO  MAKE,  NOT  BREAK,  PRISONERS 

say  what  you  will  do  with  your  lives.  A  man 
does  not  get  something  for  nothing.  I  cannot  do 
much  for  any  man  in  the  Navy.  Neither  the  Ad- 
miral nor  Mr.  Osborne  nor  Mr.  Hill,  with  their 
earnest  desire  to  serve  you,  can  do  anything  for 
you  except  to  open  the  door — the  door  of  oppor- 
tunity, of  hope;  the  door  for  rehabilitation,  for 
service.  It  is  for  you  to  say  whether  you  will 
walk  through  that  door  with  clean  lives  and  an 
earnest  desire  to  serve  your  country  and  make 
men  of  yourselves,  the  sort  of  men  your  mothers 
prayed  you  would  be  when  you  were  little  boys 
at  their  knees.  On  this  holy  Sabbath  morning  I 
wish  you  would  turn  your  minds  back  to  your 
homes,  to  the  instruction  of  your  mothers  and  try 
to  lift  up  a  prayer  that  all  the  sweet  influences  of 
early  life  may  come  to  you  this  morning,  and 
you  may  carry  back  with  you  in  your  work,  in 
your  studies,  in  your  self-discipline  the  things 
that  your  mothers  hoped  for  you  and  prayed 
would  come  into  your  lives.  And  I  beg  to  say 
that  the  spirit  of  the  Navy,  so  far  as  I  may  be 
able  to  interpret  it,  in  every  place  high  and  low, 
is  for  each  man  to  put  himself  in  the  place  of  the 
other  man. 

If  I  know  my  heart,  every  time  a  court-martial 
case  comes  before  me  I  try  to  think  of  myself  in 
the  place  of  the  man  on  trial.  I  try  to  think  of 
his  temptations;  I  try  also  to  think  of  his  physi- 
cal infirmities.  I  try  to  think  of  all  those  asso- 
ciations of  evil  that  have  enticed  him  and 

[81] 


THE  NAVY  AND  T,HE  NATION 

carried  him  away  from  the  right  path.  When 
you  come  here  I  always  have  in  my  heart  a  sad- 
ness which  would  utterly  depress  me  if  I  did 
not  have  with  it  the  hope  and  prayer  that  you 
will,  in  this  time  of  contemplation,  resurrect 
your  high  spirit  of  self -discipline  and  resolve  and 
that  in  these  days  of  detention  you  will  forge 
your  lives  into  the  kind  of  lives  which  as  boys 
you  meant  they  should  be.  And  may  I  say  to 
you,  as  one  who  believes  in  the  God  who  rules 
this  world,  that  you  may  not  hope  to  fully  carry 
out  any  resolutions  you  make — no  matter  how 
firmly  they  are  made — if  you  depend  entirely 
upon  your  own  power  and  will.  No  man  lives 
who  is  strong  enough  always  to  do  right  unless 
he  invokes  the  guidance  of  the  good  God  for  help 
and  strength  in  the  hour  of  trial. 


THE   POISON   OF   PESSIMISM 

There  are  diseases,  so  the  doctors  say,  carried  in 
every  wind  that  blows:  there  are  deadly  germs  that  well 
men  breathe  a  thousand  times  a  day  without  any  ill 
effects  upon  their  bodies.  But  the  minute  our  systems 
become  weakened,  the  minute  our  natural  buoyancy  and 
vitality  become  lessened,  these  same  germs  find  a  lodg- 
ing-place and  we  become  stricken  with  the  malady.  It 
is  so  with  this  poison  of  pessimism  which  every  German 
spy  in  America  is  spreading  broadcast  through  the  land. 

Southern  Society  Banquet,  New  York,  December  12, 
1917. 

WE  have  entered  into  this  war  with  no  pas- 
sion, no  envy,  no  prejudices,  no  desire  for  any- 
thing that  belongs  to  any  other  man  or  nation. 
No  shibboleth  of  hate,  or  semblance  of  it,  has 
been  raised.  When  our  ships  have  been  ruth- 
lessly sunk  and  women  and  children  have  been 
murdered,  we  have  firmly  determined  to  make 
the  seas  safe  and  never  to  rest  until  the  men  re- 
sponsible for  these  crimes  are  punished  and  made 
impotent  to  repeat  them :  but  in  all  America  there 
is  no  flame  of  rage,  no  passion  for  vengeance,  no 
hatred  of  the  people  of  Germany  who  have  been 
made  the  instruments  of  bestial  warfare.  We 

[83] 


THE  NAVY  AND  T,HE  NATION 

have  looked  beyond  the  men  under  the  sea  whose 
piratical  acts  shocked  civilization,  and  we  have 
seen  that  they  were  the  pawns  and  agents  of  a 
Juggernaut  which  compelled  them  to  commit 
murder  or  themselves  to  face  the  death  squad. 
A  long  imposed  autocratic  imperialism  has 
made  German  soldiers  efficient  vassals  of  ven- 
geance. Now  and  then,  as  when  certain  sailors 
threw  their  captain  overboard  in  the  vain  at- 
tempt to  save  their  souls  from  under-sea  slaugh- 
ter of  children,  there  has  been  an  attempt  to  re- 
volt against  the  most  highly  organized  internal 
tyranny  the  ingenuity  of  subsidized  service  could 
impose.  But  ingrained  submission,  trained  skill 
in  the  use  of  the  weapons  of  war,  and  the  certain- 
ty of  cruel  destruction  by  even  the  whisper  of 
protest  to  this  enforced  barbarism,  have  made 
the  Kaiser's  war  machine  a  potent  thing  of  evil. 
We  have  seen  this  monster  destroy  small  states, 
ravage  peaceful  territories,  and  seek  to  incite  the 
whole  world  to  sedition  and  murder.  Yet,  deep 
as  is  our  determination  that  the  world  shall  never 
be  dominated  by  Force,  it  is  the  glory  of  America 
that  its  voice  is  the  voice  of  Resolution  and  Jus- 
tice, and  not  of  Hate  and  Vengeance.  May  we 
not  hope,  should  we  not  pray,  that  no  matter  how 
great  the  provocation,  the  American  people  will 
ever  keep  out  of  their  minds  and  out  of  their 
hearts  any  passion  of  hate  toward  those  who  war 
against  the  world's  justice  and  the  world's  peace 
and  the  world's  civilization?  Is  it  expecting  too 

[84] 


THE  POISON  OF  PESSIMISM 

much,  when  hundreds  of  our  men  have  been  done 
to  death  by  this  merciless  machine,  that  we  shall 
preserve  our  souls  in  restraint  and  freedom  from 
despising  those  who  are  now  our  enemies? 

If  we  can  press  this  war  to  victory — counting 
nothing  worth  while  except  securing  enduring 
peace — if  we  can  do  this  without  our  own  souls 
going  down  to  the  abyss  of  hate,  our  nation  will 
have  risen  to  a  glory  hitherto  deemed  impossible 
among  men.  Mind  you,  I  counsel  no  smooth 
words  in  describing  the  murderous  deeds  con- 
ceived by  the  German  autocrats.  I  favor  no 
quarter  for  the  men  responsible  for  the  world 
war,  though  as  to  them  our  attitude  should  not 
be  one  of  hatred.  Napoleon  coveted  the  earth. 
His  personal  ambition  made  Europe  reek  with 
blood.  His  fate  must  be  the  fate  of  those  who 
make  his  bloody  career  their  admiration  and  who 
have  followed  in  his  footsteps.  France  through 
travail  came  to  know  and  to  embrace  free  govern- 
ment. We  shall  stay  in  this  war  until  Germany 
shall  see  its  war  lords  deposed,  and  we  shall  live 
to  see  that  capable  people  freed  from  the  master 
of  militarism  that  has  made  every  home  a  house 
of  mourning.  To  this  accomplishment — because 
until  it  is  accomplished  no  people  can  be  safe  un- 
der their  own  vine  and  fig-tree — America  has 
pledged  its  sacred  honor,  and  to  that  pledge  every 
man,  every  resource  and  every  dollar  are  dedi- 
cated. I  use  the  word  dedicated  advisedly,  be- 
cause it  is  a  holy  consecration  of  all  that  we  are 

[85] 


THE  NAVY  AND  T.HE  NATION 

and  all  that  we  have  to  which  we  are  committed. 
Can  we  permit  passion  and  hate  to  mar  our  holy 
cause  and  our  unselfish  devotion? 

What  must  be  the  shibboleth  of  this  war  for 
America?  Many  suggestions  have  been  made, 
some  of  them  borrowing  the  spirit  of  vengeance 
that  wars  have  always  produced.  Not  long  ago 
a  great  newspaper  in  the  Middle  West  offered  a 
prize  to  the  person  who  would  suggest  the  shib- 
boleth that  would  inspire  soldiers  and  sailors  to 
fight  until  victory  is  won.  There  were  many  an- 
swers to  the  request,  ranging  all  the  way  from 
the  expression  of  bitter  hate  to  the  meaningless 
slogan  of  the  mollycoddle.  The  judges  finally 
awarded  the  prize  to  the  one  who  proposed, 
"Freedom,  for  all,  forever."  In  those  few  words 
are  summed  up  the  whole  spirit  and  purpose  of 
every  democratic  nation.  We  are  fighting  to 
preserve  Freedom.  We  know  what  that  means. 
It  was  blood-bought  and  can  be  preserved  for  no 
people  except  by  eternal  vigilance.  We  are  fight- 
ing for  Freedom,  not  to  obtain  it  for  a  favored 
few  or  for  a  group  of  nations.  It  must  embrace 
mankind;  it  is  for  all.  There  must  be  no  metes 
and  bounds  set  to  it,  no  territorial  limitations,  no 
exclusion  of  any.  But  we  go  further.  Freedom 
for  all  is  not  enough.  This  war  may  bring  this 
blessing  to  those  who  fight  for  it,  but  in  a  dec- 
ade other  ambitious  autocratic  monsters  might 
rise  up  and  by  military  machines  deprive  some 
of  the  freedom  our  arms  ha^e  helped  to  win  for 

[86] 


THE  POISON  OF  PESSIMISM 

all.  We  must  not  only  secure  freedom  for  all — 
we  must  safeguard  it,  we  must  insure  it,  we  must 
guarantee  it,  we  must  make  it  so  safe  that  no 
power  can  ever  place  it  in  jeopardy.  Whatever 
is  required,  it  must  be  perpetuated  and  made  en- 
during. It  must  bless  mankind  forever.  This 
shibboleth  embraces  our  noble  aims,  our  broad 
conception  of  the  world's  need,  and  commits  us 
to  such  sacrifice  as  may  be  needed  to  preserve  it 
without  the  possibility  that  it  may  be  of  uncer- 
tain duration. 

"Freedom,  for  all,  forever"  has  no  touch  of 
hate  of  the  foes  of  freedom.  No  greed  tarnishes 
that  shibboleth.  Under  that  banner  men  will 
march  to  victory  with  a  nobility  of  purpose  and 
an  unconquerable  spirit.  It  will  be  a  benediction, 
giving  added  strength  and  power  to  every  man 
in  arms,  for  he  will  fight  in  as  holy  a  cause  as 
inspired  those  who  went  in  quest  of  the  Holy 
Grail. 

The  leading  question  on  every  tongue  to-day 
is,  "What  can  I  do  to  help  win  this  war  ?"  Nat- 
urally that  question  is  addressed  to  those  en- 
trusted with  the  problems  of  the  military  arms 
of  our  Government.  You  eagerly  hope  that  the 
way  will  be  made  clear  to  those  eager  and  anxious 
to  do  their  part  in  bringing  this  terrible  conflict 
to  a  triumphant  conclusion.  I  know  that  if  I 
should  ask  every  one  of  you  sitting  around  me 
to-night  what  you  would  rather  have  me  say 
above  all  things,  your  reply  would  not  be  words 


THE  NAVY  AND  T^E  NATION 

of  praise  of  your  society,  or  general  summaries 
of  our  military  situation,  or  discourses  on  mat- 
ters of  high  strategy,  or  elaborate  dissertations 
on  world  politics,  but  you  would  ask  me  for  a 
definite  answer  to  the  question  that  is  uppermost 
in  all  your  minds  these  days — Where  lies  my 
duty?  How  can  I  best  serve  in  this  day  of  need? 
I  do  not  doubt  you  are  all  doing  all  that  you  can, 
all  that  you  have  been  told,  all  that  you  can  think 
of  to  do,  and  I  know  that  what  I  wish  to  speak 
about  particularly  to-night  is  something  which 
many  of  you  already  have  realized  or  are  already 
doing  to  the  best  of  your  ability  at  this  moment. 
But  there  may  arise  a  danger  greater  than  that 
of  submarines  or  cannon,  more  to  be  feared  than 
the  power  of  armies,  a  danger  which  will  become 
no  longer  a  danger  when  it  is  realized,  but  which 
is  dangerous  because,  until  too  late,  it  may  not 
be  recognized  as  a  real  and  great  peril. 

I  speak  of  the  danger  of  pessimism,  of  losing 
heart,  of  growing  discouraged,  the  danger  of  al- 
lowing oneself  'for  one  minute  to  doubt  that  Right 
in  this  war  will  triumph  or  that  democracy  has 
not  been  born  to  suffer  extinction  at  the  hands  of 
a  German  autocrat.  It  is  part  of  the  German 
propaganda.  It  is  perhaps  their  most  effective 
weapon  to  spread  throughout  the  countries  op- 
posed to  them  tales  of  imaginary  defeats,  of  fatal 
deficiencies  in  the  military  establishments  which 
never  existed,  of  superhuman  resources  of  the 
German  Empire,  and  a  thousand  and  one  things 

[88] 


THE  POISON  OF  PESSIMISM 

all  tending  to  shake  that  sane  conviction  of  the 
impossibility  of  the  Wrong  triumphing  over  the 
Right  which  we  must  retain,  if  we  are  going  to 
win  this  war.  We  are  sending  many  men  to  help 
our  allies,  we  are  sending  many  ships,  we  are 
pouring  out  liberally  our  national  wealth  to  the 
cause,  but  more  than  men,  more  than  ships,  more 
than  money,  must  our  war-weary  associates 
across  the  water  rely  on  this  strong  young  coun- 
try for  that  boundless  courage,  that  optimism 
which  sees  and  understands  the  worst  and  yet 
fears  not,  which  they  will  need  more  and  more 
as  time  goes  one.  If  we  falter,  if  we  grow  dis- 
couraged, if  we  for  one  minute  admit  that  there 
is  but  one  answer  to  the  question  of  how  this 
war  will  end,  how  can  we  expect  those  whose 
fortitude,  whose  endurance  is  already  being  tried 
to  the  utmost,  to  stand  fast  in  the  faith?  And 
this  is  something  which  each  one  can  do  as  an 
individual,  which  we  must  do  as  individuals,  be- 
cause it  is  something  we  cannot  do  by  presiden- 
tial authority  or  Acts  of  Congress.  When  our 
gloomy  friend  sits  across  the  desk  and  pours 
forth  his  tale  of  woe,  whispering,  perhaps,  some 
spy-spread  rumor  of  disaster  and  adds  his  fear 
that  all  is  not  well,  it  is  for  us,  by  our  own  firm 
conviction  to  dispel  his  gloom,  to  dissipate  his 
anxiety,  to  encourage  his  wavering  spirit,  and 
to  send  him  out  of  our  office  with  renewed  con- 
fidence to  take  up  his  task  in  unshaken  faith  of  a 
triumphant  outcome. 

[89] 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

There  are  diseases,  so  the  doctors  say,  carried 
in  every  wind  that  blows ;  there  are  deadly  germs 
that  well  men  breathe  a  thousand  times  a  day 
without  any  ill  effects  upon  their  bodies.  But  the 
moment  our  systems  become  weakened,  the  mo- 
ment our  natural  buoyancy  and  vitality  become 
lessened,  these  same  germs  find  a  lodging  place 
and  we  are  stricken  with  the  malady.  It  is  so 
with  this  poison  of  pessimism  which  every  Ger- 
man spy  in  America  is  spreading  broadcast 
through  the  land.  So  long  as,  with  clear  vision 
and  healthy  minds,  we  look  unflinchingly  at  the 
future,  we  realize  that  as  long  as  our  great  coun- 
try and  the  great  countries  of  our  allies  retain 
the  will  to  win,  they  cannot  lose.  But  let  us  give 
way  to  a  foolish  and  needless  discouragement, 
let  us  permit  ourselves  to  become  mentally  de- 
pressed, and  we  will  find  that  every  fresh  lie  saps 
visibly  our  power  to  conquer. 

And  now,  having  asked  you  to  encourage 
others,  let  me,  speaking  as  one  whose  official 
duties  require  him  to  know,  encourage  you  by 
giving  you  my  solemn  assurance  that  you  might 
search  our  most  secret  archives  at  Washington 
in  vain  for  any  records  of  disaster  or  even  minor 
military  casualties  that  have  not  been  spread 
broadcast  through  the  public  press.  Nor  will 
you  find  in  all  our  records  any  just  ground  for 
discouragement,  but  on  the  contrary,  could  you 
read  the  full  tale  of  what  is  going  on  to-day,  you 
would  feel  proud  of  what  our  country  has 

[90] 


THE  POISON  OF  PESSIMISM 

achieved  already  towards  the  certain  winning  of 
this  war.  It  is  not  alone  the  men  in  office,  the 
men  wearing  the  uniform,  the  men  charged  with 
official  responsibility  whose  zeal  and  efficiency  in- 
spire optimism.  These  alone  could  not  win  the 
war.  Our  confidence  is  based  upon  the  mobili- 
zation of  all  America,  business  men,  artisans, 
farmers,  who  have  enlisted  as  truly  and  freely 
and  unreservedly  as  the  young  men  who  have 
answered  the  call  to  the  colors.  In  their  whole- 
hearted consecration  and  in  their  united  spirit 
of  sacrifice  in  our  homes  is  a  power  that  justifies 
our  faith  and  vindicates  our  optimism. 

America  has  never  drawn  the  sword  except 
for  liberty;  it  has  never  sheathed  it  except  in 
victory.  Let  us  lend  no  ear  to  the  whispering  of 
pessimism  or  the  doubts  of  disloyalty.  Let  us 
never  doubt  that  clouds  will  break  and  enduring 
peace  will  shine  upon  mankind  as  the  result  of 
the  courage  and  faith  of  valorous  men. 


[91] 


IX 


WAR   AGAINST   JUNKERISM 

Labor  itself  has  more  to  win  and  more  to  lose  than 
any  other  group  in  the  United  States.  Progress  has  al- 
ways been,  is  now  and  always  must  be,  the  hope  of  labor. 
Any  condition  of  life  that  forbids  struggle  and  aspira- 
tion is  a  condition  that  bears  most  heavily  upon  the 
mass  of  people,  for  it  dooms  them  to  an  endurance  of 
evil  that  might  otherwise  be  attacked  successfully. 

Alliance  for  Labor  and  Democracy,  Lexington  Theater, 
New  York,  February  22,  ipi8. 

THIS  is  not  the  war  of  a  government,  of  an 
administration,  nor  yet  of  those  at  the  head  of 
the  war-making  branches,  but  for  America  it  is 
a  war  of  110,000,000  people. 

It  is  true,  indeed,  that  this  war  is  not  the  war 
of  any  one  class  or  section  in  the  United  States, 
and  equally  true  that  the  obligation  of  individuals 
to  the  National  Service  is  not  qualified  by  cir- 
cumstances. In  the  last  analysis,  however,  the 
major  burden  falls  upon  the  shoulders  of  labor, 
for  while  executives  in  high  places  may  plan  the 
tasks,  it  is  the  hands  of  the  worker  that  must 
drive  the  rivets,  fell  the  forests,  mold  the  metal, 
and  provide  the  motive  force  for  the  vast  ma- 
chinery that  expresses  the  indomitable  resolution 
of  a  free  people. 

[92] 


WAR  AGAINST  JUNKERISM 

The  need  of  the  hour  is  ships.  The  hammer 
that  strikes  a  rivet  is  every  whit  as  effective  as 
the  machine  gun  on  the  firing  line  itself.  Not 
only  ships  for  the  Navy  but  ships  for  the  mer- 
chant marine.  Our  soldiers  must  go  across  the 
sea,  supplies  must  go  with  them,  and  to  those  na- 
tions fighting  side  by  side  with  us  against  the 
Imperial  German  Government  must  be  sent  the 
food  that  is  absolutely  vital  to  the  maintenance  of 
their  military  strength. 

Every  man  who  fires  one  shot  at  the  enemy 
when  he  might  use  a  machine  gun,  every  man 
who  fails  to  be  on  the  firing  line  when  the  need 
is  sorest,  and  every  man  who  drives  one  rivet 
when  he  might  drive  two,  is  a  Benedict  Arnold  in 
his  heart  and  in  his  soul,  for  slacking,  delaying 
and  sullen  indifference  is  a  treachery  that  may 
cost  the  life  of  our  brothers  and  our  sons. 

In  the  factory  where  guns  are  molded  and 
munitions  made,  in  the  shops  where  clothes  are 
cut  and  finished,  in  the  forest  where  stands  the 
virgin  timber  for  our  ships  and  aeroplanes — 
there  as  well  as  in  France  are  the  battlefields 
where  the  workers  of  America  must  prove  them- 
selves heroes  or  stand  shamed  before  the  world 
as  traitors. 

Let  no  man  forget  that  he  must  live  with  him- 
self— that  he  must  also  live  with  the  children  who 
will  question  him  in  future  years — and  how  will 
he  answer  himself,  how  will  he  answer  his  sons, 

[93] 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

if  he  can  only  confess  neglect  and  cowardice  in  an 
hour  of  trial? 

When  labor  was  struggling  to  secure  its  pres- 
ent position  of  influence  and  responsibility,  its 
slogan  was,  "The  injury  of  one  is  the  concern 
of  all."  Led  on  by  that  great  rallying  cry,  it 
climbed  to  a  strength  and  power.  To-day,  when 
all  that  we  hold  sacred  in  life  is  in  peril,  that  cry 
must  ring  out  again  with  even  greater  force  and 
reach,  for  threatened  injury  is  not  to  the  indi- 
vidual, but  to  the  system  of  government  that  has 
blazed  trails  to  the  heights. 

Labor  is  called  to  the  colors  as  much  as  any 
soldier,  and  any  sailor.  Your  contribution  to  the 
National  Service  is  as  great  as  that  rendered  on 
the  firing  line,  and  in  many  respects  just  as 
heroic.  Through  the  bitter  winter  that  has  just 
passed,  I  have  seen  thousands  of  men  working 
steadily  in  the  cold  and  in  the  snow,  and  the 
country  is  coming  to  realize  that  there  is  a  glory 
in  this  as  well  as  in  the  spectacular  courage  of  the 
battlefield. 

There  is  no  attempt,  and  there  will  be  no  at- 
tempt to  employ  those  methods  of  oppression  and 
coercion  practiced  by  the  German  autocracy. 
There  is  no  need  either  for  the  conscription  of 
workers  or  the  conscription  of  capital.  You  are 
free  men,  and  the  Government  appeals  to  you 
as  free  men,  and  we  feel  that  your  answer  will 
be  the  same  as  that  cried  to  the  world  by  those 

[94] 


WAR  AGAINST  JUNKERISM 

free  men  of  1776  who  chose  the  bitterness  of  sac- 
rifice rather  than  the  comforts  of  slavery. 

It  is  easy  for  me  to  understand  the  suspicions 
and  distrusts  that  crowd  the  mind  of  the  average 
worker  in  connection  with  war.  From  the  first 
dawn,  the  masses  have  been  pawns  in  every  strug- 
gle, and  warfare  has  ever  been  made  an  excuse 
for  setting  back  the  hands  of  progress,  for  every 
possible  abridgment  of  human  rights,  and  for 
the  largest  possible  measure  of  reaction.  It  is 
not  so  to-day. 

Never  before  in  the  history  of  human  strug- 
gle, have  the  reactions  of  war  been  guarded 
against  so  carefully  as  in  this  day  when  America 
fights  for  her  life.  There  is  not  a  single  body 
with  any  executive  power  in  the  Government  at 
Washington  that  does  not  have  upon  it  a  repre- 
sentative of  labor,  sitting  side  by  side  with  the 
representative  of  the  employers,  and  having  equal 
voice  in  all  those  decisions  that  are  concerned 
with  the  human  element  in  industry.  A  trade 
unionist,  William  B.  Wilson,  is  Secretary  of 
Labor ;  Samuel  Gompers  is  a  member  of  the  Ad- 
visory Commission  of  the  Council  of  National 
Defense;  John  P.  White  of  the  United  Mine 
Workers  sits  side  by  side  with  Doctor  Garfield 
in  the  Fuel  Administration;  Hugh  Frayne  is  a 
member  of  the  War  Industries  Board;  and  the 
President  of  the  Building  Trade  Unions  is  on 
the  Emergency  Construction  Board  that  builds 
our  ships. 

[95] 


THE  NAVY  AND  TJIE  NATION 

In  the  next  few  days,  the  first  of  a  series  of 
historic  meetings  will  be  held  in  the  office  of  the 
Secretary  of  Labor  at  Washington.  Five  repre- 
sentatives of  the  great  employing  interests  and 
five  representatives  of  the  workers  of  America 
will  meet  in  an  honest  effort;  to  agree  on  prin- 
ciples and  policies  which  shall  govern  relations 
between  employers  and  workers  during  the  war, 
in  an  effort  to  set  down  a  program  that  shall  safe- 
guard every  right  and  defend  every  duty.  Wher- 
ever wages  are  concerned,  or  hours  of  labor  or 
working  conditions,  there  is  a  board  in  exist- 
ence upon  which  labor  has  equal  representation, 
and  every  voice  of  protest  and  discontent  in  the 
United  States  to-day  is  heard  in  Washington  and 
heeded. 

Consider,  for  a  moment,  the  repeated  declara- 
tions of  the  President  in  favor  of  an  equal  and 
exact  justice;  measure  up  for  yourself  the  laws 
that  have  given  effect  to  these  declarations,  and 
investigate  carefully  every  activity  of  this  Ad- 
ministration in  connection  with  industry,  and  you 
will  tell  all  doubters  that  it  is  wise  to  put  aside 
any  possible  suspicion  and  distrust,  resting  confi- 
dent that  your  rights  are  in  safe  hands,  and  that 
the  Administration  and  Congress  alike  are  de- 
termined that  democracy  shall  not  perish  at  home 
while  we  fight  for  it  abroad. 

This  is  not  only  a  war  in  defense  of  our  free 
institutions,  a  war  in  behalf  of  all  humanity,  but 
it  is  a  war  against  war.  I  say  to  you,  out  of  my 

[96] 


WAR  AGAINST  JUNKERISM 

deepest  conviction,  that  labor  itself  has  more  to 
win  and  more  to  lose  than  any  other  group  in  the 
United  States.  Progress  has  always  been,  is  now, 
and  always  must  be,  the  hope  of  labor.  Any  con- 
dition of  life  that  forbids  struggle  and  aspiration 
is  a  condition  that  bears  most  heavily  upon  the 
mass  of  people,  for  it  dooms  them  to  an  endur- 
ance of  evils  that  might  otherwise  be  attacked 
successfully. 

A  victory  by  German  arms  cannot  but  mean 
a  deathblow  to  the  free  thought  of  the  world,  for 
its  effect  will  be  to  put  progress  in  shackles.  Let 
Germany  triumph  in  Europe,  then  the  United 
States  is  committed  inevitably  to  defensive  prep- 
arations that  will  command  every  effort  in  the 
interest  of  our  military  strength.  Year  after 
year,  an  increasing  number  of  men  will  have  to 
be  withdrawn  from  peaceful  pursuits  to  fill  the 
army,  and  year  after  year  an  ever  increasing 
number  of  battleships  will  have  to  be  builded  and 
manned  in  order  that  our  coasts  may  be  protected 
from  raid  and  invasion. 

The  whole  country,  as  I  see  it,  is  in  the  grip  of 
a  vast  change.  Old  prejudices  are  disappearing, 
class  distinctions  established  by  wealth  are  being 
wiped  out,  and  a  splendid  fraternity  is  growing 
in  strength.  This  war  has  given  wings  to  prog- 
ress. Social  theories  formerly  branded  as  dema- 
gogic are  now  accepted  without  question. 

It  is  the  day  of  the  open  mind.  It  is  true  that 
evils  persist.  Profiteering  continues,  extortion 

[97] 


THE  NAVY  AND  TJHE  NATION 

has  not  been  suppressed,  and  there  are  still  men 
in  America  who  put  their  bank  accounts  above 
their  country  and  above  their  God.  But  the  at- 
tack upon  these  evils  is  steady,  honest,  and  ag- 
gressive, and  the  day  is  not  far  off  when  the  last 
will  have  disappeared. 

I  am  not  a  pessimist  where  Americans  are  con- 
cerned. All  this  appearance  of  irritation,  of  dis- 
unity, of  anger  and  recrimination  is  a  surface  ef- 
fect entirely.  Deep  down  in  the  heart  of  Amer- 
ica to-day  is  the  heroic  heart  of  Valley  Forge 
and  Gettysburg.  A  little  study  in  comparative 
values  is  something  that  will  help  us  all. 

We  must  learn  to  study  comparative  values. 
Much  space  is  given  to  that  employer  who  puts 
greed  above  patriotism,  and  to  those  workers  who 
strike  without  recourse  to  the  methods  of  concil- 
iation and  arbitration.  It  is  well,  indeed,  that 
they  should  be  attacked,  for  both  alike  aid  the 
Kaiser  and  betray  America.  Head-line  art- 
ists "play  up"  a  story  where  a  thousand  men  go 
out  on  strike,  but  it  is  no  news  when  a  million 
men,  in  the  blasts  of  winter,  forge  essential 
weapons  for  winning  the  war.  And  small  space 
is  taken  to  tell  of  the  thousands  of  employers  who 
are  laboring  without  thought  of  profit,  and  of  the 
millions  of  workers  who  toil  unceasingly  with- 
out ever  a  thought  than  that  of  country. 

Gradually  during  the  past  year,  under  the  lead- 
ership of  the  United  States,  as  voiced  by  our 
President,  the  aims,  motives,  and  ambitions  of 

[98] 


WAR  AGAINST  JUNKERISM 

all  our  Allies  in  this  struggle  against  Prussian 
Autocracy,  have  become  crystallized  and  clari- 
fied, and  all  minor  issues  swept  aside,  until  to- 
day no  one  doubts  what  we  are  fighting  for  and 
why. 

We  are  fighting  that  "Liberty  may  not  perish 
from  the  earth;"  that  the  right  of  the  governed 
to  have  a  voice  in  the  government  may  be  pre- 
served; that  justice  to  the  individual  may  not 
give  way  to  the  tyrannical  oppression  of  brute 
force ;  and  for  the  principle  that  because  a  man  or 
a  nation,  by  sheer  strength,  can  do  a  thing  it  has 
no  license  because  of  that  fact  to  do  it  unless  it 
is  also  a  proper  and  a  just  thing  to  do.  In  other 
words,  the  United  States,  as  spokesman  of  the 
allied  world,  voices  the  principle  that  the  Demo- 
cratic form  of  government  is  worth  spending  the 
lives  of  millions  of  men  and  billions  of  treasure 
to  preserve.  This  is  our  reason  for  being  to- 
day in  arms.  It  has  been  agreed  to  by  our  allies 
as  an  all-sufficient  reason  for  them  as  well. 

And  as  we  have  laid  down  this  one  great  cardi- 
nal principle  as  our  justification,  so  it  devolves 
upon  us  as  a  nation  to  see  to  it  that  the  Democ- 
racy for  which  we  fight  is  a  Democracy  worth 
fighting  for.  If  it  is  to  be  this  kind  of  a  De- 
mocracy, it  must  be  founded  on  mutual  trust  and 
confidence.  Democracy  and  intolerance,  or  De- 
mocracy and  suspicion,  cannot  live  in  the  same 
body  politic.  Now  to  my  way  of  thinking  there  is 
no  test  so  infallible  of  the  character  of  a  gov- 

[99] 


THE  NAVY  AND  T,HE  NATION 

ernment  as  the  relations  between  labor  and  capi- 
tal that  grow  up  under  it.  That  government  is 
most  successful,  is  most  worthy  to  continue  to 
exist,  under  which  labor  and  capital  work  hand 
in  hand  and  side  by  side  for  the  mutual  good  of 
not  only  the  nation  as  a  nation,  but  for  the  mutual 
advancement  of  every  person,  rich  and  poor,  in 
that  nation  in  their  "pursuit  of  happiness." 

Labor  and  capital  alike,  all  over  the  world,  look 
to  the  United  States  to  point  the  way  towards 
the  ideal  government  I  have  described.  Prus- 
sian Autocracy  is  to-day  waving  the  spectacle 
of  Russia  before  its  military-ridden  laboring 
classes  as  an  example  of  Democracy  freed  from 
the  grip  of  military  despotism.  In  Russia  itself, 
freed  from  centuries  of  enslavement,  possessed 
with  a  passionate  desire  for  liberty,  but  with  as 
yet  no  constructive  voice  to  formulate  that  desire 
and  to  bring  it  about,  Labor  looks  to  us  to-day 
to  lead  them  along  the  right  path  to  a  true  Re- 
public. 

Better  far  for  the  aims  and  machinations  of 
the  Prussian  military  tyrants  than  the  loss  of  all 
our  transports  or  the  failure  of  all  our  war  plans 
would  it  be  to  have  labor  in  this  country  lose  that 
fine  self-control,  that  sense  of  justice  which  has 
so  far  bitterly  disappointed  all  the  Kaiser's  plans 
and  predictions,  and  enter  upon  a  period  of  strife 
and  mutual  misunderstanding  which  would  bring 
all  our  fine  talk  of  the  priceless  value  of  Democ- 
racy into  disrepute.  It  has  confounded  its  ene- 

[100] 


WAR  AGAINST  JUNKERISM 

mies  at  home  and  abroad.  Upon  you  depends 
more  than  success  in  this  war,  depends  the  even- 
tual triumph  of  the  freedom  of  the  individual 
throughout  the  whole  world.  Your  task  is  not 
an  easy  one,  it  is  not  a  simple  matter  for  the  sake 
of  the  great  cause  for  which  you  are  fighting,  for 
the  sake  of  the  great  cause  of  Labor  itself,  to  be 
slow  to  provocation,  to  submit  to  the  little  irrita- 
tions, to  arbitrate  in  cases  where  you  have  the 
might  to  win  temporarily  by  force.  But  you 
have  wise  men  at  the  head  of  your  councils,  and 
there  is  nothing  that  America  is  quite  so  proud 
of  to-day  as  the  splendid  showing  of  wise,  cool, 
far-sighted  patriotism  made  by  those  whom  you 
are  trusting  as  your  leaders. 

It  is  an  open  secret — I  can  talk  about  it  freely 
now — that  the  real  hope  of  the  Prussians  that 
America  would  never  be  effective  in  this  war  lay 
in  its  fatuous  belief  that  labor  could  be  so  irri- 
tated by  insidious  propaganda,  so  misled  by 
hired  agitators,  as  to  insure  nation-wide  strikes, 
almost  upon  the  declaration  of  war.  Far  bitterer 
than  the  failure  of  the  submarine  to  sweep  the 
seas  has  been  the  failure  of  the  German  spy  to 
tie  this  great  Republic  hand  and  foot  by  stam- 
peding labor,  organized  and  unorganized,  into 
something  very  nearly  approaching  a  social  revo- 
lution. 

Labor  will  continue  its  same  wise  policy,  and 
when  this  war  is  over  it  will  have  won  its  own 
fight  as  well.  No  hidebound  capitalist  of  that 

[101] 


THE  NAVY  AND  TflE  NATION 

type  which  is  so  rapidly  disappearing  in  this  en- 
lightened time,  who  made  the  name  "capitalist" 
something  of  a  reproach,  will  dare  then  to  rise 
and  seriously  announce  his  belief  that  labor 
should  be  suppressed  with  an  iron  hand.  He  will 
have  no  standing  in  the  court  of  last  resort — 
Public  Opinion.  For  capital  and  labor  are  be- 
ginning to  understand  each  other  and  are  find- 
ing each  other  not  one  tithe  as  bad  as  they  have 
been  painted.  I  can  give  you  specific  instances 
in  the  last  six  months  of  manufacturers  who  sat 
at  my  desk  and  confessed,  after  they  had  been 
persuaded,  with  a  persuasion  that  was  sometimes 
rather  insistent,  to  confer  with  labor,  that  they 
had  found  to  their  very  great  surprise  that  the 
American  laboring  man,  when  he  sits  down  to 
talk  things  over  calmly  with  you,  is  a  very  human 
and  a  very  reasonable  sort  of  citizen.  And  the 
number  of  manufacturers  regarded  by  labor  as 
being  reasonable  and  human  is  increasing  every 
day. 

We  are  getting  together,  and  when  we  get  to- 
gether and  the  last  mutual  misunderstandings 
and  suspicions  are  cleared  away,  not  all  the  power 
of  the  German  Army,  not  all  the  thunder  of  the 
German  guns,  can  shake  the  triumphant  progress 
of  real  Democracy  throughout  the  whole  world. 


[102] 


X 

THE  BLESSING  OF  NATIONAL  UNITY 

Out  of  the  tragedy  of  this  war,  we  must  believe,  as 
we  have  faith  in  God,  some  blessing  will  come  to  the 
world.  Already  in  America  we  have  received  the  bap- 
tism of  national  unity.  There  is  no  longer  in  this  coun- 
try any  division.  We  are  united  and  we  have  resolved, 
Catholic  and  Protestant,  Democrat  and  Republican,  East- 
erner, Westerner  and  Southerner,  that  neither  religious 
creed,  nor  political  bias,  nor  section  nor  principalities, 
nor  heights  nor  depths  shall  ever  separate  us  again  as  a 
nation. 

Launching  of  Catholic  War  Fund  Campaign,  New 
York,  March  17,  1918. 

NOTHING  pleases  me  so  much  as  to  attend  a 
launching,  and  if  I  could  leave  my  task  in  Wash- 
ington, we  are  launching  so  many  ships  these 
days,  I  would  have  no  opportunity  for  any  other 
duty.  I  congratulate  you,  Cardinal  Farley,  in  in- 
augurating this  campaign.  You  have  honored 
the  Navy  by  appropriating  the  term  "launching," 
a  strictly  naval  term,  to  describe  the  beginning 
of  this  drive  for  the  Catholic  War  Fund.  I  count 
myself  happy  to  speak  to  the  Knights  of  Colum- 
bus. What  those  words  imply  in  adventure,  in 
that  spirit  of  enterprise  that  discovers  continents 
gives  us  a  new  conception  of  Christian  chiv- 

[103] 


THE  NAVY  AND  TflE  NATION 

airy!  There  has  been  no  chivalry  which  has 
touched  and  blessed  the  world  and  no  time  when 
knighthood  was  in  flower  that  did  not  catch  its 
inspiration  from  the  Christian  religion.  Tenny- 
son must  have  thought  of  such  an  organization 
when  he  wrote  those  words  so  descriptive  of  its 
spirit  and  its  purpose : 

"To  break  the  heathen  and  uphold  the  Christ, 
To  ride  abroad  avenging  human  wrongs, 
To  speak  no  scandal,  no,  nor  listen  to  it, 
To  honor  his  own  word  as  his  God's, 
And  live  sweet  lives  of  purest  chastity." 

The  Knights  of  Columbus,  born  in  the  spirit 
of  this  Christian  chivalry,  with  all  the  good  this 
organization  has  accomplished,  has  now  engaged 
in  a  larger  work  that  shall  bless  and  help  not 
only  the  brave  and  chivalrous  men  of  this  Order 
and  this  Faith,  but  with  a  catholicity  broad 
enough  to  take  in  all  men  will  open  the  doors  of 
its  places  of  recreation  and  uplift  to  every  man 
who  wears  Uncle  Sam's  uniform. 

I  bring  to  you  to-night  the  appreciation  and 
the  thanks  of  the  Commander-in-Chief  of  the 
American  Army  and  Navy — that  patient  and 
firm  and  resolute  President,  who  bears  burdens 
greater  than  were  ever  imposed  upon  any  man 
since  the  days  of  the  immortal  Lincoln. 

I  bring  you  the  thanks  of  the  distinguished 
Secretary  of  War,  now  on  the  sacred  soil  of 
France,  conferring  with  American  officers  and 

[104] 


THE  BLESSING  OF  NATIONAL  UNITY 

with  the  officers  and  heads  of  all  the  Allied  gov- 
ernments, to  hasten  forward  the  glorious  victory 
which  is  certain  to  come  to  our  side! 

I  need  not  tell  you  how  grateful  the  Navy  is 
for  all  that  your  order  and  your  church  has 
done  for  the  uplift  of  the  youth  in  the  Navy. 
The  Navy  is  a  boy  institution.  When  the  fleet 
went  round  the  world,  the  average  age  of  every 
man  in  that  fleet,  including  "Fighting  Bob" 
Evans,  was  under  20.  When  you  look  into  the 
faces  of  these  lads,  clear  of  eye,  firm  in  muscle, 
and  strong  in  purpose,  you  are  helping  to  enable 
them,  in  the  perils  of  the  deep,  where  they  fear 
neither  storm  nor  enemy,  to  bring  forward  a 
victory  that  shall  add  new  laurels  to  a  Navy  that 
has  never  failed  the  American  people! 

Cardinal  Farley  has  told  you  that  there  has 
come  in  America  an  innovation  with  respect  to 
soldiers  and  sailors,  and  that  our  Government  is 
the  first  upon  earth  that  has  sought  in  practical 
ways  to  safeguard  the  morals  of  the  young  men 
who  hasten  to  the  ranks. 

It  was  not  always  so.  You  have  heard  of  the 
Army  in  Flanders,  and  when  men  talk  of  pro- 
fanity, they  say,  "Swears  like  the  Army  in  Flan- 
ders." During  that  campaign,  there  is  a  story 
that  chaplains  were  not  always  welcomed,  and 
those  who  went  to  preach  and  teach  the  young 
soldiers  had  little  opportunity,  and  nothing  of  the 
appreciation  we  give  them  now. 

Among  the  traditions  of  the  church  to  which 
[105] 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

I  belong  is  that  of  a  Methodist  preacher  named 
Haynes,  one  of  its  old-time  saints,  who,  with- 
out permission,  without  authority,  and  almost 
on  sufferance,  followed  the  boys  from  his  village 
into  Flanders  and  preached  to  them  against  the 
evils  that  pollute  and  destroy  young  manhood. 
And  he  was  so  effective  that  the  young  men 
drank  less,  but  being  an  old-fashioned  Methodist, 
he  had  them  "shouting."  Old  time  Methodists, 
when  they  shouted,  were  not  very  careful  whom 
they  disturbed,  and  the  Colonel  sent  for  this  self- 
appointed  chaplain,  and  said,  "Mr.  Haynes,  you 
are  disturbing  the  regiment.  You  must  stop 
this  business  of  preaching."  And  this  man  of 
God,  turning  to  the  colonel,  said,  "Colonel,  you 
have  a  commission  from  a  King  to  cpmmand  men 
in  the  army.  I  have  a  commission,  sir,  from  Al- 
mighty God,  and  I  am  commissioned  to  tell 
you,  Colonel  of  the  Royal  Regiment,  that  unless 
you  repent  of  your  sins  and  lead  a  better  life,  you 
will  die  and  go  to  hell !" 

The  foundation  stone  upon  which  this  Repub- 
lic was  erected  is  freedom  of  religion.  The 
American  people  of  every  creed  would  die  gladly 
before  they  would  give  up  the  doctrine  that  they 
have  a  right — every  man — to  worship  God  ac- 
cording to  the  dictates  of  his  own  conscience. 
The  Government  may,  and  does,  appoint  chap- 
lains and  I  wish  to  thank  my  distinguished  friend 
and  one  of  my  valued  spiritual  advisers,  Bishop 
Hayes,  for  the  assistance  he  has  given  both  army 

[106] 


THE  BLESSING  OF  NATIONAL  UNITY 

and  navy  in  selecting  from  the  Catholic  Church 
able  and  devout  men  who  are  leading  the  young 
men  in  right  paths.  But  though  we  may  ap- 
point chaplains,  representing  the  creeds  of  all 
men  in  the  service,  we  may  not,  we  dare  not  say 
to  any  man,  what  faith  he  shall  profess.  And, 
therefore,  we  come  to  you,  Your  Eminence,  and 
to  the  leaders  of  every  faith  in  America,  repre- 
senting the  Army  and  Navy,  and  throw  open  our 
camps  and  our  training  stations,  and  invite  you 
to  come  in  and  minister  to  men  according  to  the 
faith  and  creed  in  which  they  have  been  reared 
and  in  which  they  can  best  worship  their  God. 

Out  of  the  tragedy  of  this  war,  we  must  be- 
lieve, as  we  have  faith  in  God,  some  blessing  will 
come  to  the  world.  Already  in  these  United 
States  we  have  received  the  baptism  of  national 
unity.  There  is  no  longer,  in  this  country,  any 
division.  We  are  united  and  we  have  resolved, 
Catholic  and  Protestant,  Democrat  and  Republi- 
can, Easterner,  Westerner  and  Southerner,  that 
neither  religious  creed,  nor  political  bias,  nor 
section,  nor  principalities,  nor  powers,  nor  things 
to  come,  nor  heights  nor  depths  shall  ever  sepa- 
rate us  again  as  a  nation. 

Sometimes  they  tell  us  when  the  woes  of  this 
war  seem  overwhelming,  that  Christianity  has 
failed,  and  pessimists  say,  "The  Church  no  long- 
er can  be  looked  to,  because,  loving  peace,  war 
has  come."  In  this  hour,  the  only  thing  that 
has  not  failed  is  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ. 

[107] 


THE  NAVY  AND  T#E  NATION 

Not  many  years  ago,  before  he  held  public  of- 
fice, in  a  public  address  President  Wilson,  speak- 
ing of  a  distinguished  officer  whose  robust  faith 
inspired  his  army,  said :  "This  great  general  did 
not  dare  go  into  battle  without  asking  the  bless- 
ing of  Almighty  God."  And  he  added  rever- 
ently, "I  don't  understand  how  any  man  can  ap- 
proach a  discharge  of  the  duties  of  life,  without 
invoking  the  guidance  of  the  Lord." 

This  nation  was  founded  on  faith  in  God.  In 
the  days  of  prosperity,  many  of  us  seemed  to 
forget  it,  and  there  were  not  wanting  men  who 
seemed  to  have  no  use  for  the  church,  except 
when  they  asked  its  holy  office  in  matrimony,  or 
when  they  were  buried.  But  they  never  dared  to 
ask  the  woman  of  their  choice  in  the  holiest  es- 
tate without  invoking  the  blessing  of  the  church 
they  neglected. 

Christianity  is  the  only  power  under  heaven 
that  has  not  failed.  For  fifty  years  in  the  Ger- 
man Empire  "higher  criticism"  and  "new 
thought"  and  materialism  have  put  Christianity 
aside.  And  it  is  because  the  Junkers  and  the 
professors  and  religious  leaders  of  Germany  had 
forgotten  God  and  the  old  Gospel  that  they 
turned  to  militarism  and  materialism. 

It  is  a  great  pleasure  to  join  with  you  in  launch- 
ing this  ship.  I  have  no  doubt  that  it  will  be  so 
perfectly  put  together  with  strong  bands  of  faith, 
that  when  it  goes  down  the  ways  it  will  sail  over 

[108] 


THE  BLESSING  OF  NATIONAL  UNITY 

the  seas,  carrying  blessings  to-morrow  to  hun- 
dreds of  thousands  of  men  in  arms. 

One  word  more :  How  long  is  this  terrible  war 
to  last?  The  answer  to  that  has  been  given 
by  Cardinal  Farley.  It  will  last  until  a  victory 
has  been  won  by  force  of  arms  or  until  the  Ger- 
man people  renounce  forever  autocracy.  And  to 
this  work  which  has  been  cut  out  for  us  we  have 
consecrated  our  lives — our  boys  are  prodigal  of 
their  lives ;  they  keep  nothing  back,  they  give  their 
all,  and  they  look  to  us  to  know  whether  at  home 
the  people  are  supporting  them. 

They  are  coming  back  one  of  these  days — 
most  of  them;  and  those  who  do  not  come  will  be 
buried  in  graves  wet  with  the  tears  of  a  hun- 
dred million  Americans.  And  those  who  come 
back  will  return  to  make  this  Republic  a  better 
and  greater  nation  than  it  has  ever  been. 

It  is  that  they  shall  be  shielded  from  tempta- 
tions peculiar  to  youth,  it  is  that  their  manhood 
shall  not  be  sapped,  it  is  that  around  them  shall 
be  thrown  our  love  and  protection  that  we  have 
gathered  to-night,  and  for  that  you  will  con- 
tribute generously,  freely,  gladly,  and  when  you 
have  given — aye,  even  all  you  have — you  will  not 
have  given  a  hundredth  part  as  much  as  the 
humblest  lad  who  goes  to  France  and  offers  his 
life. 


[109] 


XI 

THE   TEST   OF   AN   AMERICAN 

We  do  not  ask  where  an  American  was  born.  We  care 
not  what  his  creed,  or  what  his  estate.  The  supreme 
test  for  an  American  is:  Does  he  love  this  country  bet- 
ter than  any  other  country  under  the  sun?  and  will  he 
gladly  give  his  life  to  preserve  the  liberty  which  has 
blessed  mankind? 

Society  of  the  Sons  of  St.  Patrick,  New  York,  March 
16, 


THE  Navy  is  rich  in  heroes  —  men  who  "go 
down  to  the  sea  in  ships,"  fearing  neither  the 
gale  nor  the  foe.  It  is  a  priceless  heritage  their 
daring  bequeaths  to  their  country.  They  had 
the  vision,  did  the  early  sea-going  men,  of  a 
greater  America.  Better  than  landsmen  they 
had  a  keener  perception  of  what  freedom  of  the 
seas  —  our  "pillar  of  cloud  by  day  and  pillar  of 
fire  by  night"  —  meant  to  the  colonies.  While  the 
hardy  pioneers  of  the  interior  were  felling  trees 
the  men  of  the  coast  were  sailing  to  far-off  coun- 
tries, bringing  home  rich  prizes  which  laid,  deep 
and  broad,  the  foundations  of  the  wealth  of  New 
England.  It  was  a  short  step  from  cruising  in 
commerce  to  going  forth  on  men-of-war.  Small 
craft,  built  for  fighting  and  for  trade,  were 

[no] 


THE  TEST  OF  AN  AMERICAN 

quickly  converted  into  fighting  ships  when  the 
right  of  America  to  govern  itself  and  sail  the 
seas  was  called  in  question. 

On  St.  Patrick's  day  we  meet  to  honor  a  saint 
of  courage  and  patriotism.  At  heart  we  are  all 
hero  worshipers.  "We  cannot,"  says  Carlyle, 
'look,  however  imperfectly,  upon  a  great  man 
without  gaining  something  by  him.  He  is  the 
living  light-fountain,  which  it  is  good  and  pleas- 
ant to  be  near."  I  bring  you  to-night  the  name 
and  fame  of  a  fighting  Irishman — John  Barry, 
the  first  commissioned  captain  in  the  American 
Navy.  But  he  was  not  the  first  American  sailor 
to  capture  a  British  armed  schooner.  That  honor 
belongs  to  another  Irishman,  Jeremiah  O'Brien, 
assisted,  on  May  nth,  1775,  by  his  four  broth- 
ers, some  other  Irishmen  and  a  few  others  of 
English  birth.  The  first  decisive  victory  on  land 
in  the  Revolution  was  won  under  an  Irish  Colo- 
nel, a  descendant  of  Roger  O'Moore,  at  Moore's 
Creek  bridge  in  North  Carolina. 

The  story  of  our  Navy  is  replete  with  deeds 
of  high  emprise,  of  what  sometimes  looked  to 
prudent  men  as  rash  adventure,  of  mastery  over 
wind  and  wave,  and  of  victories  won  by  the  sheer 
force  of  audacity  and  daring  and  dauntless  cour- 
age. In  every  war  the  Navy  has  shone  resplen- 
dent. The  deeds  of  brave  sailors  have  given  it  a 
safe  and  abiding  anchorage  in  the  confidence  and 
affection  of  the  people.  The  Army  is  massive, 
ponderous,  powerful,  and  from  Washington  to 


Pershing  has  fought  to  win  and  preserve  Amer- 
ican independence  and  American  ideals.  I  don't 
forget  that  Irishmen  have  been  first  on  land  as 
well  as  on  sea.  Four  months  before  Lexington, 
led  by  John  Sullivan,  whose  father  came  from 
Limerick,  the  colonists  made  an  armed  attack  on 
land  against  the  British  and  captured  arms  and 
ammunition  at  Portsmouth,  New  Hampshire. 
The  Army  is  justly  proud  that  it  was  another 
Irishman,  Gen.  Richard  Montgomery,  of  the 
County  of  Donegal,  who  was  the  first  general  of- 
ficer to  give  his  life  in  1775.  He  fell  leading  the 
attack  on  Quebec.  It  was  an  Irish  general  by  the 
name  of  Andrew  Jackson,  who  won  the  battle  of 
New  Orleans;  an  Irish  general  by  the  name  of 
Phil  Sheridan,  "riding  like  a  god  of  war"  into 
the  thickest  of  the  fight,  winning  victories;  and 
another  Irish  general,  Shields,  the  one  com- 
mander who  was  matched  against  "Stone- 
wall" Jackson,  that  intrepid  Irish  soldier  of  the 
South.  The  Sixty-ninth  regiment,  made  up  ex- 
clusively of  Irish,  lost  more  men  in  killed  and 
wounded  than  any  other  regiment  from  the  Em- 
pire State. 

I  come  to  speak  to-night  of  the  Navy,  more 
particularly  of  a  naval  hero,  who  embodied  the 
valor  and  the  virtues  that  we  love  to  believe  are 
best  illustrated  in  men  of  the  naval  service.  I 
have  elected  to  tell  the  story  of  our  first  captain 
of  the  Navy  because  we  never  appreciate  at  its 
true  measure  the  qualities  that  make  a  noble  char- 

[112] 


THE  TEST  OF  AN  AMERICAN 

acter  until  we  see  them  in  flesh  and  blood.  The 
Navy  is  an  institution!  There  she  sails,  the  in- 
trepid and  invincible  defender  of  our  liberties. 
As  an  institution,  it  receives  our  approval  and 
our  respect.  But  the  Navy  of  men  of  the  salt  sea 
gale — of  John  Barry,  of  John  Paul  Jones,  of 
Perry,  of  Conyngham,  of  O'Brien,  of  Blakely, 
of  Cassin,  of  Rowan,  of  Dornin,  of  Monaghan, 
of  Macdonough,  of  Decatur,  of  Tattnall  with 
"blood  is  thicker  than  water";  of  Monahan,  of 
Haggerty,  of  Coleman,  of  Mulligan,  of  Sullivan, 
of  Farragut,  of  Dewey — how  these  and  like 
names  of  heroes,  whose  names  live  in  the  realm 
of  romance  as  in  history,  and  whose  deeds  thrill 
the  heart  and  stir  the  pulse,  make  the  Navy  a  liv- 
ing thing  we  love  as  well  as  honor  and  trust  in  as 
the  savior  of  the  Republic.  It  is  to  look  with  me 
into  the  very  heart  of  an  Irish  captain  who,  with 
the  ink  hardly  dry  on  the  first  commission  ever 
given  an  American  naval  officer,  won  victory 
against  odds.  The  lesson  of  John  Barry's  life 
must  furnish  the  topic  of  what  I  shall  say  to- 
night to  a  society  devoted  to  the  traditions,  the 
romances,  the  glory  and  the  service  of  the  Irish 
race.  Perry  and  Decatur  were  the  sons  of  fight- 
ing blood.  Mahan,  who  founded  a  new  school  of 
naval  historical  writing  and  was  the  naval  au- 
thority of  this  generation,  traced  his  lineage  to 
the  Emerald  Isle.  Thomas  Macdonough,  who 
won  the  decisive  sea  battle  in  the  War  of  1812-14, 
was  the  son  of  a  patriot  from  Erin.  The  country 


THE  NAVY  AND  TtfE  NATION 

rang  with  his  praise  then,  and  upon  the  centen- 
nial of  his  notable  victory  I  shared  in  doing  honor 
to  him  when  trying  to  tell  the  story  of  the  sig- 
nificance of  his  sea-fight  on  Lake  Champlain. 
Perhaps  no  more  reverent  and  modest  dispatch 
was  ever  written  by  a  commander  than  was  sent 
by  that  fighting  Irishman.  It  was  in  these  words : 

"U.  S.  Ship  Saratoga, 
"Off  Plattsburg,  Sept.  II,  1814. 
"SiR: 

"The  Almighty  has  been  pleased  to  grant  us  a  signal 
victory  on  Lake  Champlain  in  the  capture  of  one  Frigate, 
one  Brig,  and  two  sloops  of  war  of  the  enemy. 
"I  have  the  honor  to  be, 

"Sir,  your  ob'd  serv't, 

"T.  MACDONOUGH,  Com." 
"Hon.  W.  Jones, 
"Secretary  of  the  Navy." 

Macdonough  gave  the  glory  to  the  Almighty, 
and  there  was  nothing  of  the  "Me  und  Gott"  in 
that  telegram;  no  boasting,  nothing  of  self.  All 
was  gratitude  to  his  God  and  rejoicing  for  his 
country.  Other  naval  commanders  will  shortly 
be  sending  other  messages  of  achievement  in  the 
days  of  the  glorious  victory  which  awaits  Ameri- 
can prowess.  May  we  hope  that  they  will  emu- 
late the  brevity,  the  reverence,  the  simplicity  of 
that  Irish  victor.  Is  it  too  much  to  hope  that 
some  day  this  spirit  of  modesty  may  even  enter 
the  German  lines  and  induce  the  Kaiser  to  give 
the  Almighty  at  least  an  equal  place  with  himself 
in  his  proclamations  ? 


JHE  TEST  OF  AN  AMERICAN 

Barry  was  only  fifteen  years  old  when  he 
reached  these  shores  "to  grow  up  with  the  coun- 
try." The  free  life  on  the  sea  made  any  govern- 
ment imposed  by  others  a  bondage  to  him.  When 
he  landed  in  Philadelphia  he  came  to  stay.  He 
brought  his  undivided  loyalty  and  allegiance  with 
him.  He  was  no  bird-of-passage  immigrant, 
coming  to  get  all  he  could  and  sacrifice  nothing. 
He  became  a  full-fledged  American  from  the 
crown  of  his  head  to  the  soles  of  his  feet — heart, 
head  and  soul  were  bound  up  in  the  affection  he 
gave  to  the  country  whose  spirit  of  freedom 
beckoned  him  from  his  island  home.  Like  hun- 
dreds of  thousands  of  others  from  Erin,  he  gave 
proof  of  the  truth  uttered  by  the  Marquis  de 
Chastellus,  who  said:  "An  Irishman,  the  instant 
he  sets  foot  on  American  soil,  becomes  ipso  facto 
an  American."  In  this  particular  the  Irish  set 
an  excellent  example  to  all  who  make  their  homes 
in  the  United  States.  Though  Barry  loved  his 
native  land  to  the  day  of  his  death,  he  was 
first,  last  and  always  an  American  ready  to  fight 
for  his  country  and  he  fought  valorously  for  it 
against  even  the  nation  from  which  he  came.  He 
was  no  "fifty-fifty"  American,  taking  all  he  could 
get  and  giving  as  little  service  as  possible.  He 
was  all  American.  Patriotism  keeps  no  books. 
There  are  no  credits  and  debits  between  one's 
country  and  the  place  of  his  birth. 

From  the  first  the  hospitality  of  America  has 
been  generous  and  hearty  to  all  who  came  to 

C»S] 


THE  NAVY  AND  TflE  NATION 

these  shores.  Its  strength  has  come  from  the 
welcome  it  has  given  to  men  out  of  all  the  stocks 
of  Europe.  It  never  dreamed  it  would  harbor 
any  who  brought  it  a  divided  affection,  much  less 
that  it  would  ever  hug  to  its  bosom  any  who  were 
ready  to  give  it  the  poisonous  bite  of  the  serpent. 
The  intrigues  and  conspiracies  uncovered  in  re- 
cent months  have  revealed  the  fact  that  men 
bearing  the  honorable  name  of  American  were  its 
worst  foes.  But  the  number  has  not  been  large, 
and  their  exposure  has  taught  two  good  lessons : 
first,  that  it  is  impossible  to  hide  treason  and  dis- 
loyalty, and  second,  that  the  day  has  arrived 
when  men  who  enjoy  the  privileges  of  America 
must  renounce  all  other  allegiance. 

There  is  no  place  in  this  country  to-day  for  any 
man  who  is  not  ready  to  give  all  he  is,  all  he  has, 
and  all  he  hopes  to  be  to  bring  victory  to  Ameri- 
can arms.  Nobody  need  ask  what  John  Barry 
would  have  thought  of  a  citizen  of  America  who, 
when  his  country  was  at  war,  could,  even  in 
thought,  much  less  in  deed,  lend  aid  or  comfort 
to  its  enemies.  That  valiant  young  Irishman 
would  not  have  advocated  the  comfortable  intern- 
ment of  such  disloyalists;  he  would  have  given 
them  short  shrift,  and  naval  regulations,  as  in- 
terpreted by  him,  would  have  effectually  silenced 
treason  in  every  shape  or  form. 

America  for  Americans!  That  is  the  senti- 
ment of  the  hour.  We  do  not  ask  where  an 
American  was  born.  We  care  not  what  his  creed 

[116] 


THE  TEST  OF  AN  AMERICAN 

or  what  his  estate.  The  supreme  test  for  an 
American  is:  Does  he  love  this  country  better 
than  any  other  country  under  the  sun?  and  will 
he  gladly  give  his  life  to  preserve  the  liberty 
which  has  blessed  mankind  ?  No  man  loves  any- 
thing for  which  he  would  not  die.  John  Barry 
did  not  talk  much  about  his  love  for  his  adopted 
country.  Words  unless  accompanied  by  action 
are  of  no  value.  Barry  offered  his  service,  his 
sword,  his  knowledge,  his  life  in  proof  of  his 
wholehearted  allegiance.  Such  holy  and  undi- 
vided allegiance  and  willingness  to  sacrifice  as  he 
displayed  must  stimulate  us  all,  as  in  this  hour 
of  our  country's  need  we  are  ready  to  lay  our  all 
of  possessions  and  of  life  upon  its  altar. 

We  are  realizing  in  the  greater  Navy  of  our 
day  more  than  our  fathers  did  that  the  gulf  for- 
merly fixed  between  the  man  on  the  bridge  and 
the  man  below  decks  must  be  spanned.  The  day 
has  come  when  democracy,  with  discipline,  must 
prevail  in  the  military  service  as  in  all  American 
life,  if  we  would  secure  the  best  results.  Napo- 
leon said,  "Every  soldier  carries  a  baton  in  his 
knapsack."  In  our  country  we  have  opened  the 
door  of  opportunity  so  that  every  youth  in  the 
American  Navy  may  aspire  to  the  stars  of  an  Ad- 
miral and  realize  his  worthy  ambition.  It  has 
been  said  that  America  is  Opportunity.  That 
truth  has  been  rarely  better  established  than  in 
the  life  of  Barry.  Who  could  have  predicted, 
when  the  unknown  Irish  lad  landed  in  Philadel- 

["7] 


THE  NAVY  AND  TflE  NATION 

phia,  that  he  would  win  the  high  place  in  the  na- 
val service  of  his  country,  that  a  century  and  a 
half  later,  in  the  midst  of  the  greatest  world  war, 
men  would  pause  to  gain  inspiration  from  the 
story  of  his  courage  upon  the  sea  and  his  robust 
Americanism  ? 

John  Barry  fought  "to  make  true  peace  his 
own,"  and  not  because  he  glorified  war.  He  was 
a  deeply  religious  man.  Patriotism  and  religion 
in  every  age  have  been  inseparable.  Carlyle  truly 
observed  that  "in  every  sense  a  man's  religion  is 
the  chief  test  with  regard  to  him.  If  you  tell  how 
he  is  spiritually  related,  you  tell  me  to  a  very 
great  extent  what  the  man  is,  what  kind  of  things 
he  will  do."  Barry  had  been  brought  up  in  the 
habits  of  our  Christian  religion.  He  cultivated 
them  through  life.  On  board  ship  he  enforced  a 
strict  observance  of  divine  worship,  scrupulously 
looked  after  the  moral  deportment  of  his  crew, 
and  gave  them  the  daily  witness  that  he  practiced 
the  religion  he  professed.  No  sermon  can  ever 
equal  the  life  of  a  consistent  Christian.  It  speaks 
more  convincingly  than  any  logic  or  precept  or 
homilies.  Barry's  happy  ship  was  the  fruit  of 
his  upright  life,  and  his  zeal  for  the  welfare  of  his 
men  was  the  flower  of  his  faith  in  God  and  in  the 
brotherhood  of  man. 

Most  sailors  are  men  of  faith  as  they  are  men 
of  few  words.  They  live  with  the  elements.  On 
the  midnight  watch  the  stars  are  their  compan- 
ions and  in  the  early  morning  the  glorious  burst 

[118] 


THE  TEST  OF  AN  AMERICAN 

of  sunrise  compels  their  reverence.  They  walk 
on  the  deck,  conscious  of  perils,  and  realize  that 
life  and  death  are  not  far  removed.  Rarely  has 
any  sailor  denied  the  truth  of  revelation.  In  al- 
most every  dispatch  the  honor  of  victory  is  at- 
tributed by  naval  victors  not  to  their  prowess, 
but  to  the  God  of  battle.  The  separation  from 
their  fellows  which  their  profession  imposes 
throws  them  upon  the  sense  of  reliance  upon  a 
higher  power — that  divine  Power  which  rules  the 
world.  With  our  feet  firm  upon  Mother  Earth, 
we  often  forget  that  God  rules.  But  on  the  sea, 
the  vision  is  clearer,  and  God's  greatness  rises 
above  all  the  works  of  man. 

And  now  on  the  eve  of  the  holy  Sabbath  I  give 
you  as  an  example  the  career  of  John  Barry,  the 
intrepid  fighter,  the  modest  Christian,  in  whose 
character  and  life  will  be  found  a  story  worth 
more  than  a  thousand  sermons.  Now  that  the 
tragedy  of  tragedies  has  caused  its  shadows  to 
fall  athwart  many  homes  in  America,  men  are 
turning  as  never  before  to  faith  in  an  overruling 
Providence,  men  whom  we  had  supposed  were 
materialists  and  who  have  given  little  thought  to 
the  church  and  the  faith  and  have  not  been  fixed 
in  their  faith  in  immortality,  have  had  a  new 
revelation  because  they  cannot  see  their  sons  go- 
ing into  this  glorious  war  and  to  death  in  service 
without  the  hope  of  meeting  them  again.  Let  us 
devoutly  thank  God  that  America  to-day  is  united 


THE  NAVY  AND  T.HE  NATION 

behind  these  boys  and  for  the  principles  for  which 
they  are  ready  to  give  their  lives,  for,  as  sure  as 
God  reigns,  victory  will  crown  courage  and  con- 
secration. 


[120] 


XII 

KNIGHTS  OF  OUR  NEW  DAY — THE  NAVY  IN  PEACE 

In  many  ways  the  Navy  has  demonstrated  its  neces- 
sity as  a  peace  institution,  and  its  contribution  to  the 
spread  of  knowledge,  to  the  extension  of  commerce,  by 
opening  up  new  doors  to  hitherto  unknown  peoples:  to 
the  discovery  of  new  worlds,  to  the  charting  of  the  seas, 
to  pioneer  work  in  securing  victories  through  diplomacy, 
to  the  study  of  the  stars,  to  decreasing  the  time  of  ocean 
voyages  and  cheapening  traffic  by  sea — in  these  and  many 
other  ways  the  Navy  has  been  a  leader,  and  all  the 
world  is  debtor  to  it,  because,  aside  from  its  place  as  a 
fighting  machine,  it  has  been  a  pathfinder  in  the  days 
of  peace. 

National  Geographic  Society,  Washington,  March  29, 
1918. 

IN  popular  acceptance  the  Navy  is  a  fighting 
organization.  Unless  it  is  ready  to  fight  and  win 
victories,  it  fails  of  the  main  purpose  of  its  exis- 
tence. Its  chief  aim  and  object  is  national  de- 
fense. In  time  of  peace  it  studies  and  learns,  and 
in  time  of  war  it  practices  the  art  of  naval  war- 
fare. In  the  naval  service  men  are  in  training 
for  a  generation  to  fight  perhaps  for  only  a  single 
day.  But  such  a  day ! 

There  has  been,  on  an  average,  one  war  in 
every  twenty-nine  years  of  our  national  life,  and 

[121] 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

in  most  wars  the  naval  engagements  can  be  count- 
ed by  minutes.  Men,  therefore,  spend  most  of 
their  careers  getting  ready  for  the  supreme  mo- 
ment. It  may  never  come,  but  woe  to  that  officer 
who  lacks  in  initiative  and  coolness  and  courage 
in  the  one  moment  when  all  he  has  learned  and 
practiced  is  worthless  unless  he  can  summon  it  to 
his  command  upon  the  instant  of  decision !  Great 
generals  have  won  renown  who  were  masters  of 
the  defensive  and  there  are  times  when  Fabian 
methods  on  land  spell  victory.  But  at  sea,  the 
captain  who  depends  upon  defense  is  lost.  Offen- 
sive methods,  daring  attack,  ability  to  maneuver 
so  as  to  obtain  the  advantage,  and  to  shoot  quickly 
and  hit  the  enemy  vessel — these  are  the  essentials 
of  high  command  afloat.  They  are  attained  only 
because  the  Navy,  in  its  shore  establishments  and 
afloat,  is  maintained  and  operated  for  the  sole 
purpose  of  increasing  the  fighting  efficiency  of 
the  fleet. 

The  Navy  as  a  fighting  agency,  as  the  embodi- 
ment of  power,  as  the  protection  of  the  country 
from  aggression  is  to-day  the  pride  and  the  reli- 
ance of  America.  But  that  Navy  can  speak  for 
itself,  is  speaking  for  itself  through  its  more  than 
three  hundred  thousand  men  and  thousand  ships 
in  active  service,  and  will  speak  with  greater  em- 
phasis when  the  hour  comes  for  which  all  other 
hours  have  been  but  preparation.  Never  did  a 
nation  have  more  right  to  be  proud  of  its  Navy 
than  now,  and  never  were  fighting  ships  manned 

[122] 


KNIGHTS  OF  OUR  NEW  DAY 

by  men  of  such  skill  and  courage  as  our  fleet  is 
to-day.  Let  us  send  to  them  across  the  ocean,  in 
their  vigils  and  in  their  perils,  a  message  of  cheer, 
a  message  of  confidence,  and  a  message  of  pride. 

In  times  such  as  these  we  naturally  think  only 
of  the  fighting  side  of  the  Navy.  But  just  as  we 
need,  in  the  construction  of  a  battleship,  to  apply 
the  work  of  more  trades  than  are  used  in  any 
other  single  structure  built  by  man,  so  the  Navy, 
in  its  organization,  utilizes  most  of  the  arts  and 
sciences andproduces  as  a  by-product,  so  to  speak, 
of  its  main  work,  many  results  which  are  of  gen- 
eral interest  and  application  in  the  maritime,  en- 
gineering, industrial  or  purely  scientific  fields. 
As  examples  I  would  recall  to  you  the  work  of  the 
Naval  Observatory,  the  Hydrographic  Office,  the 
Experiment  Station  at  Annapolis,  with  its  me- 
chanical and  engineering  laboratory;  the  Naval 
Consulting  Board,  composed  of  eminent  invent- 
ors; the  working  out,  in  the  navy  yards,  of  me- 
chanical problems  whose  solutions  are  of  value 
to  industry  and  shipping,  the  study  of  scientific 
problems  and  international  law  at  the  Naval 
War  College;  the  contributions  of  the  Navy  to 
the  science  of  navigation;  of  the  Medical  Corps 
to  medical  science. 

In  the  intervals  between  wars  the  Navy  has  not 
found  its  only  occupation  in  practice  and  drill 
and  maneuvers,  in  simulated  warfare,  making 
ready  against  the  day  when  it  would  be  helpless 
unless  it  is  completely  prepared.  In  many  ways 

[123] 


THE  NAVY  AND  TJIE  NATION 

it  has  demonstrated  its  necessity  as  a  peace  insti- 
tution and  its  contribution  to  the  spread  of  knowl- 
edge, to  the  extension  of  commerce,  by  opening 
new  doors  to  hitherto  unknown  peoples;  to  the 
discovery  of  new  worlds,  to  the  charting  of  the 
seas,  to  pioneer  work  in  securing  victories 
through  diplomacy,  to  the  study  of  the  stars,  to 
decreasing  the  time  of  ocean  voyages  and  cheap- 
ening traffic  by  sea — in  these  and  other  ways  the 
American  Navy  has  been  a  leader,  and  all  the 
world  is  debtor  to  it,  because,  aside  from  its  place 
as  a  fighting  machine,  it  has  been  a  pathfinder  in 
days  of  peace. 

Though  through  the  smoke  and  gas  and  dark- 
ening of  the  heavens  by  death-dealing  bombs,  we 
may  not  see  even  its  dawning,  our  faith  looks  be- 
yond the  roar  of  battle  to  the  quiet  days  of  peace 
that  will  once  again  smile  upon  a  world  made  bet- 
ter— let  us  trust  and  believe — by  the  sacrifice 
which  men  who  love  liberty  have  been  forced  to 
make  lest  "might  should  rule  alone."  I  doubt 
not  that  we  shall  live  to  see  the  day  when  Peace 
will  once  more  beckon  us  and  we  can  take  up 
again  the  mighty  works  of  discovery  and  ex- 
ploration which  in  other  peaceful  days  have  been 
so  large  a  part  of  the  daily  task  of  our  American 
Navy. 

When,  with  a  world-wide  horizon,  our  America 
is  once  again  happy,  youthful  with  the  zest  of 
discovery,  who  will  be  our  heroes?  We  will  not 
find  them  in  the  staid  statesmen  of  other  days 


KNIGHTS  OF  OUR  NEW  DAY 

who  thought  that  the  Alleghanies  constituted  the 
furthest  outpost  of  possibilities  and  that  beyond 
the  Mississippi  was  a  country  not  worthy  of  ex- 
ploration; who  hugged  the  chimney  corners  of 
the  Atlantic  seaboard;  scoffed  at  Jefferson  for 
the  vision  that  caused  him  to  send  Lewis  and 
Clark  to  that  new  land  "where  flows  the  Ore- 
gon," or  saw  nothing  to  make  their  pulses  thrill 
in  the  voyages  of  discovery  which  were  made  by 
Wilkes  and  Perry,  Lynch  and  Lee,  Page  and 
Ringgold,  Rodger s  and  Hall,  Herndon  and  Self- 
ridge,  Todd  and  Hodges,  Schley  and  Peary,  and 
scientific  research  along  original  lines  by  Maury 
and  Pillsbury  and  other  like  explorers,  and  naval 
diplomats  like  Perry,  who,  in  this  day  would  be 
well  called  "forward-looking  men." 

Notable  examples  of  the  Navy's  contributions 
to  science  and  exploration  are  found  in  the 
careers  of  Charles  Wilkes,  Matthew  Calbraith 
Perry  and  Matthew  Fontaine  Maury.  These 
naval  pioneers  of  the  past — whether  charting  the 
waters  of  China  and  securing  the  treaty  with 
Japan,  like  Perry ;  discovering  the  Antarctic  Con- 
tinent and  contributing  more  to  the  world's 
knowledge  of  geography  than  any  other  man, 
like  Wilkes ;  or  making  navigation  a  science,  fore- 
casting the  weather,  mastering  the  mysteries  of 
the  winds  and  currents,  uncovering  the  knowl- 
edge of  ocean  meteorology,  and  making  the  phe- 
nomena of  the  Gulf  Stream  known  to  us,  like 
Maury — these  are  the  type  of  men  who  will  be 


THE  NAVY  AND  T.HE  NATION 

reincarnated  in  the  adventurous  youth  of  the 
golden  days  of  discovery  which  challenge  the  in- 
trepid and  ambitious,  who,  when  this  war  is  over, 
will  be  satisfied  with  no  rest  until  all  the  secret 
places  are  flooded  with  the  light  and  all  cheerless 
homes  blessed  with  the  comforts  of  our  newer 
and  better  civilization. 

When  the  war  ends,  and  a  stable  peace  based 
upon  government  only  by  the  consent  of  the  gov- 
erned has  everywhere  been  established,  the  men 
who  will  sail  the  seas  will  neither  go  on  voyages 
of  conquest  nor  for  the  exploitation  of  peoples 
of  other  nations.  They  will  be  true  knights,  not 
going  forth  with  that  romantic  chivalry  which 
lacked  practical  knowledge  and  science.  These 
Knights  of  our  New  Day  will  be  fired  not  with 
less  noble  purpose,  but  with  more  seasoned  and 
practical  ideals  than  those  celebrated  in  song  and 
story.  These  adventurous  spirits  will  indeed  ride 
abroad  to  redress  wrongs,  but  they  will  not  carry 
sword  and  spear,  or  be  hampered  with  mail  and 
burdened  with  clanking  armor.  They  will  be, 
first  of  all,  men  of  the  sea,  who,  noting  the  toll 
of  human  life  demanded  by  ignorance  of  winds 
and  currents  and  ocean  paths  and  harbors,  will 
make  safe  the  navigation  of  all  the  waters  of  the 
earth.  Their  weapons  will  be  charts  and  com- 
passes and  buoys  and  signals  and  lighthouses,  to 
the  end  that  men  who  go  down  to  the  sea  in  ships 
may  do  so  in  safety  from  any  hidden  rock  or 
treacherous  shoal.  They  will  study  the  life  of 

[126) 


KNIGHTS  OF  OUR  NEW  DAY 

Maury  and  his  charts.  They  will  consecrate  their 
lives  to  his  mission  of  shortening  ocean  traffic 
and  lessening  dangers  to  navigation,  by  the  em- 
ployment of  every  agency  which  science,  study 
and  experience  afloat  may  make  available.  But 
safe  navigation  with  these  modern  knights  of  sea 
communication  will  be  only  the  ends  to  the  larger 
means,  for  they  will  utilize  these  pathways  of  the 
seas  for  the  interchange  of  products  and  ideas 
that  will  make  the  people  of  the  whole  world  part' 
ners  in  all  that  man  has  made  and  all  that  man 
has  learned.  National  lines  will  indeed  remain 
and  love  of  home-land  still  grip  the  hearts  of  men 
of  varying  climes  and  different  tongues.  The 
tower  of  Babel  will  not  be  torn  down.  We  will 
not  return  to  one  volapuk.  No  knight-errantry 
will  seek  to  compel  men  to  speak  the  same  lan- 
guage, and  thereby  lose  to  the  world  the  folk-lore, 
the  traditions,  the  literature  that  mark  the  growth 
and  illustrate  the  life  of  every  nation.  But  lines 
of  national  suspicion  and  distrust  of  other  na- 
tions will  be  obliterated  as  these  new  knights  con- 
vince all  to  whom  they  carry  their  faith  and  their 
wares  that  no  selfish  ends  tarnish  their  invisible 
armor,  and  that  their  mission  is  one  of  hastening 
the  sway  of  universal  brotherhood  based  upon 
universal  justice. 

We  may  not  expect  all  nations  to  accept  the 
tenders  of  worldwide  brotherhood  in  the  spirit 
in  which  it  will  be  tendered  by  the  Twentieth 
Century-after-the-war  chivalry.  Therefore  all 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

the  peace-loving  nations  must  enter  into  an  inter- 
national agreement  neither  to  throw  away  their 
guns  nor  to  tie  up  their  warships,  but  to  make 
them  one  common  international  peace  police  on 
land  and  sea,  tendering  to  all  nations,  great  and 
small,  the  High  Court  of  Arbitration  for  the  set- 
tlement of  all  differences,  ready  to  enforce  the 
decrees  of  that  tribunal  and  make  this  police 
force  so  strong  that  no  war  lord  will  dare  ever 
again  to  resort  to  the  sword  to  impose  his  will  or 
his  country's  greed  upon  other  nations. 

These  practical  Knights  of  Peace  and  Jus- 
tice will  master  the  secrets  of  earth  and  sea  and 
sky  for  the  comfort  and  improvement  of  the  race. 
They  will  let  no  water  power  remain  unhar- 
nessed. They  will  draw  the  nitrates  from  the  air 
to  enrich  the  earth.  They  will  utilize  present 
agencies  of  production  so  that  plenty  will  bless 
mankind  and  unlock  the  secrets  of  nature  to  in- 
crease production  faster  than  population  makes 
demand  for  food  and  raiment  and  comforts — 
aye,  and  luxuries,  also;  for  the  best  is  none  too 
good  for  all  who  labor.  Discoveries  now  un- 
dreamed of  will  respond  to  the  master  touch  of 
men  of  genius  and  we  shall  transport  without  loss 
from  one  continent  to  another  the  products  and 
wares  that  will  add  to  human  happiness.  These 
new  knights  of  science  and  industry  the  New  Day 
will  usher  in  will  prevent  any  fruits  or  vegetables 
going  to  waste  in  the  tropics  that  would  please 
the  palate  of  any  man  in  the  furthermost  North. 


KNIGHTS  OF  OUR  NEW  DAY 

Waste  will  be  eliminated  from  pole  to  pole.  Gov- 
ernments, instead  of  being  required  to  spend  bil- 
lions on  arms,  will  raise  large  sums  for  the  crea- 
tion of  instrumentalities  of  education  and  re- 
search and  scientific  production  until  no  man  who 
labors  will  lack  anything  that  will  give  nourish- 
ment or  add  to  his  happiness.  Selfish  individual- 
ism will  be  replaced  by  enlightened  cooperation. 
And  whatever  any  nation  produces  that  is  good 
will  be  made  available  without  profiteering  to 
men  and  women  in  every  other  nation.  Chemists 
and  workers  in  ordnance  and  in  making  muni- 
tions will  be  freed  from  making  agencies  of  de- 
struction so  they  may  carry  on  experiments  and 
operations  to  multiply  all  things  that  will  sustain 
and  make  life  more  abundant  instead  of  increas- 
ing the  butchery  of  the  race.  Education  of  all, 
medical  treatment  without  cost,  and  free  hospi- 
tals for  the  aged  and  infirm — the  real  tests  of 
civilization — will  be  universal.  Teachers  and 
physicians  and  preachers  will  be  honored  above 
captains  of  wealth  and  exploiters  and  politicians. 
These  will  be  some  of  the  fruits  of  the  peace 
that  will  bless  the  earth  when  ''the  Parliament  of 
Man,  the  Federation  of  the  World"  comes  to  us. 
And  it  will  come — let  no  man  doubt  that.  Men 
and  women  in  this  gathering  will  see  the  prophecy 
fulfilled  in  their  day  when 

"No  one  shall  work  for  money  and  no  one  shall  work  for 

fame 
But  each  for  the  joy  of  the  working," 

[129] 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

and  for  the  benediction  which  unselfish  labor  for 
others  will  give  to  this  old  world  which  will  be 
born  again. 


XIII 

THERE  IS  NO  RANK  IN  SACRIFICE 

College  men,  boys  out  of  humble  homes  who  perforce 
were  apprenticed  only  to  toil,  farm  boys  and  sons  of  the 
rich  have  marched  side  by  side,  sailed  through  submarine 
infested  and  mined  waters,  and  out  of  mutual  peril  have 
been  fashioned  into  comrades  and  partners  in  serving 
mankind.  This  kinship  in  war  will  abide  in  peace,  mak- 
ing the  America  of  the  future  stronger  and  more  united 
than  at  any  time  since  the  Revolution. 

Yale  University,  New  Haven,  Conn.,  April  18,  1918. 

WE  must  find  in  all  tragedies  some  compensa- 
tions, and  the  compensation  that  brings  to  me  the 
greatest  thrill  and  the  greatest  humility  is  the 
spirit  of  the  twelve  million  young  men  in  America 
under  thirty-one  years  of  age.  Three  or  four 
years  ago  it  was  no  uncommon  thing  to  read 
sometimes  in  the  press,  and  to  hear  sometimes  in 
the  pulpit  and  on  the  forum  that  Americans  had 
lost  the  vigor  and  love  of  country  that  character- 
ized the  men  of  '76  and  the  men  of  the  6o's. 

They  told  us  that  the  young  men  of  our  day 
were  frivolous  or  ambitious  for  wealth ;  that  they 
had  their  hearts  so  set  upon  play  and  making 
money  that  they  would  no  longer  be  willing  to 
make  sacrifices  for  their  country.  And  some 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

people  believed  it!  And  if  this  war  had  not 
come,  the  youths  of  our  age  might  have  gone  to 
their  graves  dishonored  by  this  unworthy  and  un- 
just thought  on  the  part  of  many  Americans. 
But  since  the  call  came  there  has  never  been  a 
minute  in  the  Navy  that  we  did  not  have  two  men 
when  we  needed  one.  And  then  the  call  in  the 
selective  draft  came.  Young  men  left  their  ca- 
reers ;  they  left  the  farm  with  the  plow  in  the  fur- 
row; they  left  the  factory;  they  left  the  bank; 
they  left  college  by  the  thousands  and  proved 
they  were  the  same  stuff  as  their  fathers  and 
grandfathers.  I  like  that  word  "stuff";  I  do  not 
know  whether  the  "highbrows"  would  think  it 
was  the  proper  word  or  not,  but  it  means  more 
when  you  speak  of  a  young  man  as  having 
"the  stuff  in  him,"  than  any  other  word  in  the 
English  language.  From  no  source  did  the  Navy 
receive  fitter  men  than  those  trained  in  the  Yale 
unit.  They  brought  trained  minds  to  their  new 
tasks  and  peeled  potatoes  and  took  reckonings 
with  equal  enthusiasm  and  equal  efficiency.  Col- 
lege men,  boys  out  of  humble  homes  who  perforce 
were  apprenticed  only  to  toil,  farm  boys  and  sons 
of  the  rich  have  marched  side  by  side,  sailed 
through  submarine-infested  and  mined  waters, 
and  out  of  mutual  peril  have  been  fashioned  into 
comrades  and  partners  in  serving  mankind.  This 
kinship  in  war  will  abide  in  peace,  making  the 
America  of  the  future  stronger  and  more  united 
than  since  the  Revolution. 


NO  RANK  IN  SACRIFICE 

And  the  boys  of  America  have  gone  in  ever-in- 
creasing numbers,  and,  seriously,  when  you  see 
the  sailor  boys,  nearly  400,000  of  them  now,  keep- 
ing the  road  open  to  France — (that  is  their  job, 
and  they  are  doing  it  as  well  as  any  men  who  ever 
lived) — when  you  see  them  marching  jauntily 
and  cheerfully  with  the  rhythm  of  music,  don't 
think  they  are  not  serious.  Don't  assume  that 
beneath  their  cheerful  smile  they  are  not  looking 
death  in  the  face  and  realizing  it.  They  are  ready 
for  the  supreme  sacrifice. 

What  is  true  of  the  men  in  the  Navy  is  true 
likewise  of  the  young  men  in  the  Army.  They 
come  out  of  the  same  families,  and  the  only  dif- 
ference between  the  minutemen  and  Paul  Revere 
and  the  minutemen  of  our  day,  is  that  Paul  could 
go  only  as  fast  as  his  nag  could  trot,  while  our 
boys  fly  on  the  wings  of  the  lightning.  Let  us 
bow  in  all  honor  to  these  boys,  and  remember  that 
it  is  to  them  that  the  world  looks  to  preserve  lib- 
erty and  civilization. 

The  story  of  the  deeds  of  heroism  performed 
by  men  of  the  Navy  in  this  war  will  one  day  be 
gathered  in  a  great  volume.  It  will  glow  with  a 
light  that  never  was  on  sea  or  land,  for  men  who 
live  valiantly  and  die  nobly  have  a  strength  and 
a  courage  from  the  Eternal  Father.  They  are 
consecrated  to  holy  aims  and  are  beloved  of  the 
God  of  battles.  Two  of  these  young  heroes  have 
recently  received  high  honor.  One  was  a  gradu- 
ate of  Annapolis,  the  other  an  enlisted  man — a 

[133] 


THE  NAVY  AND  T.HE  NATION 

graduate  of  the  fleet.  There  is  no  rank  in  sacri- 
fice. Almost  every  day  in  this  period  of  rapid 
construction  of  destroyers  the  Secretary  of  the 
Navy,  among  his  other  official  duties,  is  called 
upon  to  name  one  of  these  best  fighters  of  the 
stilettos  of  the  seas.  It  is  a  matter  of  precedent 
and  justice  that  no  name  shall  be  given  to  these 
craft  that  has  not  given  distinction  to  the  Navy. 
When  the  first  destroyers  were  built,  they  were 
given  the  names  of  John  Paul  Jones  and  Perry 
and  Farragut  and  Wilkes — all  illustrious  names 
that  were  not  born  to  die.  The  custom  is  con- 
tinued to  this  day  of  giving  the  glamour  of  valor 
in  the  names  of  destroyers. 

Two  of  the  latest  were  named  Kalk  and  In- 
gram,  and  the  spirits  of  these  youthful  heroes  will 
confer  a  distinction  and  an  inspiration  as  these 
swift  fighters  go  into  commission. 

The  torpedoing  of  the  Jacob  Jones  gave  us 
more  than  one  naval  hero,  some  of  them  spared 
for  future  achievement.  When  the  full  account 
of  how  the  plucky  destroyers  gave  battle  to  the 
submarines  is  told,  none  of  these  annals  will  be 
richer  in  incidents  of  individual  heroism  than  the 
deeds  of  the  officers  and  men  on  that  ship  when 
two  officers  and  sixty-four  men  lost  their  lives. 
"He  was  game  to  the  last,"  was  the  report  made 
by  the  men  of  the  spirit  of  Lieutenant  S.  F.  Kalk, 
one  of  the  Class  of  1916.  During  the  early  part 
of  the  evening,  though  in  a  weakened  condition, 
this  gallant  young  officer  through  the  chilly  wa- 

[134] 


NO  RANK  IN  SACRIFICE 

ters  swam  from  one  raft  to  another  in  his  efforts 
to  distribute  the  weight  and  make  safe  the  men 
who  were  awaiting  rescue.  Young,  with  so  much 
to  live  for,  in  the  hour  of  dire  peril  he  thought  not 
of  himself  but  of  others.  And  because  of  his  high 
and  unselfish  courage  even  unto  death,  we  have 
given  Kalk  the  distinction  that  goes  alone  to  those 
who  put  devotion  to  duty  above  love  of  life.  The 
Destroyer  Kalk,  like  the  youthful  hero  for  whom 
it  is  named,  will  be  "game  to  the  last." 

The  deed  of  Osmond  K.  Ingram  ranks  with 
those  that  give  splendor  to  our  humanity.  He 
was  a  gunner's  mate  on  the  intrepid  Cassin. 
When  the  Captain,  searching  for  submarines, 
espied  one,  he  started  full  speed  ahead  towards 
the  enemy.  Suddenly,  he  sighted  a  torpedo  about 
400  yards  away,  running  at  high  speed  and  head- 
ed to  strike  his  vessel  amidships.  Realizing  the 
situation,  the  cool  Captain  rang  for  emergency 
speed  on  both  engines.  In  that  moment  an  en- 
listed man  of  the  Navy  rose  to  the  heroic  demand 
of  the  peril.  Seeing  the  torpedo  coming  toward 
the  stern  of  the  ship  where  his  gun  was  located, 
Ingram,  with  rare  presence  of  mind,  realized  the 
additional  danger  if  the  missile  struck  where  cer- 
tain high  explosives  were  stored.  He  speedily 
ran  aft  and  threw  the  depth-charges  into  the  sea, 
before  the  torpedo  struck.  The  ship  was  hit, 
but  the  Cassin  and  his  shipmates  were  saved.  In- 
gram lost  his  own  life.  He  was  the  only  man 
who  did  not  answer  to  the  next  roll-call  on  the 

[135] 


THE  NAVY  AND  T.HE  NATION 

ship.  But  he  answered  to  the  roll-call  of  the 
immortals,  and  soon  a  destroyer  bearing  his  name 
will  sail  the  seas. 

One  of  the  comforts  we  snatch  from  the  hor- 
rors of  war  is  that  it  has  discovered  to  us  the  he- 
roic qualities  of  youths  like  Kalk  and  Ingram; 
for  they  are  of  such  mettle  as  their  thousands  of 
comrades,  some  of  whom  have  performed  equally 
heroic  deeds  and  most  of  whom  only  await  the 
opportunity  to  likewise  win  glory  for  the  Navy, 
their  country,  and  themselves. 

We  have  had  a  new  vision  of  Youth  in  these 
days  when  the  world  has  turned  to  them  as  the 
saviors  of  liberty.  We  have  looked  upon  Nathan 
Hale  as  standing  apart  from  New  England 
youths,  a  beautiful  figure  separate  from  his  kind. 
He  could  not  be  revered  too  highly.  The  lesson 
of  his  regret  that  he  had  "only  one  life  to  give  to 
his  country"  has  been  a  beacon  to  American  boys 
in  all  our  history.  But  we  have  come  in  this  town 
to  see  that  the  spirit  of  Nathan  Hale  of  the  Revo- 
lution is  the  spirit  of  Young  America  of  1917. 
From  Yale,  in  the  flush  and  glow  and  ardor  of  the 
passion  that  moved  Nathan  Hale,  went  young 
Albert  Dallon  Sturtevant.  With  eager  patriot- 
ism and  enterprise,  he  sought  the  most  daring 
and  hazardous  service,  enrolling  in  the  Naval 
Flying  Corps  even  before  war  was  declared, 
March  26,  1917.  A  month  later  he  was  ordered 
to  active  duty  and  in  the  autumn  was  sent  to  Eng- 
land, for  service  on  the  British  coast.  In  Febru- 


NO  RANK  IN  SACRIFICE 

ary  came  the  news  that  he  was  "missing  in  ac- 
tion," his  machine  having  been  shot  down  in 
flames.  Later  came  particulars  in  a  dispatch  from 
Admiral  Sims.  Sturtevant  had  gone  out  on  re- 
connoissance  of  the  enemy  coasts.  While  flying  in 
his  seaplane  in  this  dangerous  area,  he  had  been 
attacked  by  an  overwhelming  force.  Surrounded 
by  ten  enemy  planes,  pouring  their  shot  into  him, 
his  machine  was  riddled  and  set  on  fire.  Fighting 
terrific  odds,  he  fell  to  death  in  a  blaze  of  glory. 
It  is  deeds  like  his  which  illuminate  the  records  of 
our  Flying  Corps,  and  make  it  a  body  of  heroes. 
In  like  consecration  to  the  ideals  which  we  love 
more  than  we  love  life,  millions  of  young  men 
are  girding  on  the  sword,  counting  not  the  cost, 
and  a  new  glory  rests  as  a  crown  upon  the  heads 
of  the  American  boys  of  our  own  times. 

"So   near   is   grandeur  unto   dust, 
So  near  is  God  to  Man; 
When  Duty  whispers  low :  Thou  must/ 
The  Youth  replies :   'I  can.'  " 


[137] 


XIV 

"FREEDOM'S  BATTLE,  ONCE  BEGUN,  THOUGH  BAF- 
FLED  OFT   IS  EVER   WON" 

This  is  a  dark  hour.  Some  fear  the  worst,  but  we 
know  that  the  forces  of  Right  will  win  no  matter  what 
the  cost  or  how  long  the  bloody  trail.  This  is  not  a  time 
for  buoyant  optimism,  for  we  must  not  shut  our  eyes 
to  the  gravity  of  the  situation  at  the  war  front.  This 
is  not  a  day  for  pessimism,  for  doubt  in  a  civilian  is  as 
great  a  crime  as  cowardice  in  a  soldier.  It  is  rather  a 
day  for  resolution  and  devotion  to  the  spirit  of  Liberty 
which  nerved  the  founders  of  the  Republic  to  suffer  all 
things  and  endure  all  things  to  win  Freedom. 

Tremont  Temple,  Boston,  Mass.,  April  ip,  1918. 

STANDING  in  this  home  of  history  on  the  anni- 
versary of  Concord  and  Lexington,  when  the  em- 
battled farmers  fired  "the  shot  that  was  heard 
around  the  world,"  we  have  borne  to  us  from 
across  the  seas  the  roar  of  guns  in  which  Amer- 
icans are  fighting  another  battle  for  liberty  even 
more  momentous  than  the  struggle  of  the  colonies 
for  independence.  It  is  in  principle  a  struggle  of 
men  for  the  right  to  govern  themselves.  More 
than  that,  it  is  in  fact  resistance  to  the  most  ruth- 
less tyranny  that  ever  sought  to  impose  its  will 
upon  mankind.  No  sovereign  since  the  Caesars 
has  sought  to  conquer  the  world  until  the  Kaiser 


FREEDOM'S  BATTLE 

launched  forth  his  legions  with  the  cry  of 
"Deutschland  Uber  Alles!"  The  hordes  of  Al- 
aric  never  carried  greater  terror  nor  indulged  in 
more  unspeakable  brutality  than  these  modern 
Huns  with  their  hypocritical  mouthing  of  "Kul- 
tur." 

For  half  a  century  the  military  despots  of  Ger- 
many have  been  developing  their  plot.  They  have 
sent  their  spies  into  every  land  and  planted  their 
outposts  in  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth.  By 
a  generation  of  propaganda  they  have  poisoned 
the  minds  of  their  countrymen  and  instilled  them 
with  the  idea  that  the  Germans  were  destined  to 
inherit  the  earth,  and  that  no  other  peoples  had 
any  rights  a  German  must  needs  respect  or  re- 
gard. They  have  implanted  in  their  minds  the 
doctrine  that  might  is  right ;  that  brutality  is  man- 
liness and  consideration  for  others  a  disgraceful 
weakness.  The  simple,  kindly  German  people, 
with  their  love  of  music  and  art,  their  genius  for 
research,  their  devotion  to  science,  were  made  the 
tools  of  ambitious  autocracy.  Even  their  great 
universities  were  utilized  to  spread  these  false 
doctrines  and  their  Treitschkes  preached  the 
glory  of  war  and  the  profits  of  conquest.  Educa- 
tion became  the  handmaiden  of  militarism,  and 
behind  the  veneer  of  Kultur  was  built  up  the  sor- 
did structure  of  materialism  and  supreme  selfish- 
ness. 

At  the  same  time  Germany  was  sending  her 
scientists  to  America,  she  also  sent  her  skulking 

[139] 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

spies.  Behind  protestations  of  friendliness,  we 
now  know  that  Germany  was  plotting  the  exploi- 
tation of  other  nations.  Her  educators  were 
teaching  the  doctrines  that  justified  atrocities. 
Her  scientists  were  concocting  poison  gas.  Her 
statesmen  were  studying  the  weakness  of  her 
neighbors,  conspiring  to  seize  their  territory.  Her 
diplomats  were  playing  on  national  prejudices, 
stirring  up  trouble  between  other  nations. 

I  thank  God  that  here  in  America,  in  institu- 
tions of  higher  learning,  our  teachers  as  a  rule 
have  been  true  to  the  faith ;  that  with  few  excep- 
tions they  have  taught  the  sound  doctrines  which 
are  the  very  basis  of  Civilization;  that  they  still 
remain  centers  of  light  and  learning  and  in  this 
dark  hour,  above  the  clouds  of  war,  hold  high  the 
torch  of  Liberty. 

The  flames  that  burned  Louvain  blazed  up  from 
the  fires  of  hate  that  had  been  kindled  in  the  Ger- 
man heart.  But  that  fire  will  never  be  allowed 
to  consume  the  earth.  The  German  people  them- 
selves will  not  forever  be  misled;  they  will  not 
forever  allow  themselves  to  be  used  as  "cannon 
fodder"  to  serve  the  selfish  ambitions  of  their 
rulers.  They  must,  in  time,  revolt  against  their 
masters.  Must  we  not  believe  they  will  some  day 
turn  to  the  light  of  Liberty? 

The  forces  of  the  Allies  have  suffered  not  a 
few  reverses.  At  times  they  have  had  to  face 
great  odds.  Time  and  again  the  flood  has  threat- 
ened to  overwhelm  them.  But  for  three  and  a 

[Ho] 


FREEDOM'S  BATTLE 

half  years  they  have  held  the  lines  on  the  West- 
ern Front.  In  this  last  desperate  onslaught,  they 
have  been  compelled  to  give  ground.  But  these 
temporary  successes,  no  matter  how  great  they 
may  be,  do  not  mean  that  the  enemy  will  win  in 
the  end.  It  is  his  last  desperate  stroke.  He  must 
strike  now,  before  America  can  throw  her  full 
strength  into  the  fray,  or  he  cannot  win  at  all. 
All  Germany  knows  that  it  is  the  supreme  effort. 
But  whether  it  succeeds  or  fails,  it  does  not  mean 
a  final  triumph  for  Germany.  This  is  a  dark 
hour.  Some  fear  the  worst,  but  we  know  that  the 
forces  of  Right  will  win,  no  matter  what  the  cost 
or  how  long  the  bloody  trail.  This  is  not  a  time 
for  buoyant  optimism,  for  we  must  not  shut  our 
eyes  to  the  gravity  of  the  situation  at  the  war 
front.  This  is  not  a  day  for  pessimism,  for  doubt 
in  a  civilian  is  as  great  a  crime  as  cowardice  in  a 
soldier.  It  is  rather  a  day  of  resolution  and  de- 
votion to  the  spirit  of  Liberty  which  nerved  the 
founders  of  the  Republic  to  suffer  all  things  and 
endure  all  things  to  win  Freedom. 

America  and  the  nations  allied  with  her  will 
never  lay  down  their  arms  until  this  menace  to 
the  world  is  removed.  No  matter  how  long  it 
may  take;  no  matter  how  great  the  sacrifice  in 
blood  and  treasure,  we  will  never  sheathe  the 
sword  until  Autocracy  is  put  out  of  business. 
Frightfulness  cannot  affright  us;  defeat  here  or 
there  can  but  strengthen  our  determination.  On 


THE  NAVY  AND  T#E  NATION 

this  historic  anniversary  we  dedicate  ourselves 
anew  to  the  sacred  cause.  And  we  will  fight  on 
until  democracy  shall  triumph  and  the  light  of 
Liberty  shine  throughout  the  earth. 

A  RACE  BETWEEN  WILSON  AND  HINDENBURG 
Faneuil  Hall,  Boston,  Mass.,  October  30, 


In  April,  at  a  patriotic  rally,  I  spoke  in  Bos- 
ton on  the  war,  its  aims,  and  America's  duty.  It 
was  only  a  few  days  after  the  never-to-be-forgot- 
ten March  drive.  Patriots  everywhere  had  held 
their  breath  as  German  legions  threatened  Paris 
and  the  Channel.  They  were  the  darkest  days  of 
the  war.  For  lack  of  ships,  American  soldiers 
had  not  arrived  in  France  in  force.  We  picked 
up  the  papers  to  read  the  war  news  with  appre- 
hension and  dread.  Some  feared  the  worst. 

We  gather  to-night  in  a  very  different  at- 
mosphere from  that  which  almost  seemed  to  suf- 
focate us  after  the  March  drive.  Two  millions 
of  American  soldiers  are  in  France  and  from  the 
day  in  July  when  they  changed  the  tide  of  war  in 
the  fiery  furnace  at  Chateau  Thierry,  they  have 
stood,  by  the  side  of  our  Allies,  as  a  stone  wall 
against  the  Prussian  veterans.  ''It  is  a  race," 
said  Lloyd  George  in  March  when  the  issues 
seemed  to  hang  in  the  balance,  "between  Wilson 
and  Hindenburg,"  meaning  that  if  Wilson  fur- 
nished the  men  more  rapidly  than  Hindenburg, 

[142]  ' 


FREEDOM'S  BATTLE 

victory  would  rest  with  the  Allies.  Wilson  fur- 
nished the  men,  to  the  consternation  and  defeat 
of  the  Germans,  and  won  the  race. 

On  July  5th,  Mr.  Lloyd  George,  Prime  Minis- 
ter of  Great  Britain,  visited  the  American  Army 
in  France,  saluted  the  American  Flag  and  made 
a  speech  to  the  soldiers,  in  which  he  spoke  enthu- 
siastically of  the  courage  they  had  shown  and 
how  their  splendid  fighting  had  destroyed  the  be- 
lief of  German  war  lords  that  America  would  not 
be  present  in  force  in  France  as  a  great  factor  in 
the  Army  of  Liberty.  He  declared  that  the  pres- 
ence of  the  Americans,  coming  from  the  hard  won 
advance  at  Chateau  Thierry,  had  convinced  even 
the  Kaiser  of  America's  power,  and  Lloyd 
George  added,  "We  are  grateful  to  you  for  com- 
ing to  help  the  western  democracies  of  Europe." 
Concluding  his  address  to  the  American  soldiers, 
the  English  Premier  said: 

"President  Wilson's  great  deliverance  of  yesterday 
made  clear  what  we  are  fighting  for.  If  the  Kaiser 
and  his  advisers  are  prepared  to-morrow  to  accept  the 
conditions  stated  by  your  President,  he  can  have  peace, 
not  only  with  America,  but  also  with  Great  Britain  and 
France.  But  there  are  no  indications  of  any  intention 
on  his  part  to  do  so.  We  do  not  covet  a  single  yard 
of  German  soil,  and  we  do  not  desire  to  dispossess  her 
of  her  rightful  inheritance." 

The  German  war  lords  never  understood 
American  spirit  and  American  power.  They  told 
their  people  that  Americans  were  money-grab- 

[143] 


THE  NAVY  AND  T,HE  NATION 

bers  and  that  no  large  number  would  ever  cross 
the  seas  to  fight.  "If  they  should  desire  to  come 
to  Europe,  there  are  no  ships  to  bring  them,"  was 
the  prophecy.  "They  have  no  trained  soldiers, 
and  if  men  could  be  transported,  they  would  be 
the  easy  victims  of  our  invincible  armies,"  they 
added.  With  such  assurances  they  lulled  their 
people  into  a  false  sense  of  security.  But  under 
united  command,  the  Allied  forces  have  from  July 
to  this  hour  pressed  the  battle  with  increasing 
strength  and  steady  advance.  To-night  we  gather 
in  a  world  in  which  the  clouds  have  lifted,  we 
feel  the  refreshing  air  of  the  coming  victory,  and 
we  gird  our  loins  for  the  last  struggle,  and  look 
beyond  the  trenches  and  the  sacrifices  to  the  days 
of  permanent  and  honorable  peace — a  world  re- 
deemed from  the  danger  of  war  and  greed  and 
conquest. 

The  paramount  duty  of  the  Navy  in  this  war 
has  been  to  keep  safe  the  road  to  France,  to  make 
a  highway  of  the  sea  over  which  the  land  fighters 
could  pass  in  security  to  the  heroic  task  they  are 
performing  gloriously.  How  well  the  Navy  has 
met  its  responsibility  in  this  direction,  the  figures 
of  insignificant  losses  on  transports  attest  with 
eloquence  of  achievement.  But,  while  this  new 
and  unexpected  convoy  duty  has  been  carried  out 
successfully,  the  Navy  has  also  borne  its  share  in 
submarine  hunting,  has  placed  literally  hundreds 
of  patrol  and  fighting  ships  in  commission,  has 
kept  its  mighty  dreadnaughts  fit  and  ready  for 

[144] 


FREEDOM'S  BATTLE 

any  eventuality  in  our  own  or  European  waters, 
and,  on  and  under  the  sea  and  on  land  and  in  the 
air,  has  justified  the  faith  and  pride  of  the  Amer- 
ican people.  From  a  little  over  50,000  men,  it  has 
grown  to  over  500,000,  and  from  April  6th,  1917, 
has  responded  promptly  to  every  call. 

It  must  be  a  source  of  pride  to  men  of  Massa- 
chusetts, who  from  the  Revolution  have  been  con- 
spicuous in  contributions  to  naval  efficiency,  that 
in  this  war  your  State  has  furnished  so  many  of 
the  officers  and  men  who  have  made  the  record 
of  the  Navy  shine.  It  was  a  great  citizen  of  Mas- 
sachusetts, who,  as  Secretary  of  the  Navy  in 
Folk's  Administration,  founded  the  Navy  Acad- 
emy to  train  officers  to  command  the  ships. 
George  Bancroft  is  the  father  of  naval  education 
as  Horace  Mann  is  the  father  of  universal  educa- 
tion. I  love  to  recall  that  it  was  in  the  Democratic 
administration  of  a  native  of  North  Carolina  that 
a  great  scholar  and  statesman  of  Massachusetts 
had  the  vision  to  establish  an  institution  at  An- 
napolis to  train  American  youths  for  naval  ca- 
reers. Upon  a  recent  visit  to  that  institution,  Sir 
Eric  Geddes,  First  Lord  of  the  Admiralty  of 
Great  Britain,  declared  that  the  Naval  Academy 
was  the  admiration  and  envy  of  all  nations.  From 
that  source  the  Navy  has  obtained  the  officers  who 
have  directed  naval  operations.  To  their  aid  have 
come  hundreds  of  capable  officers  promoted  from 
the  ranks  and  from  civilian  life — thousands  of 
the  flower  of  our  young  American  manhood. 

CHS] 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

I  do  not  know  whether  the  German  fleet  will 
come  out  and  try  conclusions  with  the  Allied 
fleet  before  war  ends.  One  thing  I  do  know  is 
that  every  man  in  the  Navy  hopes  for  that  day 
with  confidence  that  knows  no  doubt  as  to  the  re- 
sult of  such  a  conflict  of  mighty  fighting  craft. 
If  it  comes  it  will  be  another  battle  of  Armaged- 
don and  we  will  be  fighting  truly  for  the  Lord. 


XV 


LEADERSHIP,    INSPIRATION    AND    PUBLIC    SERVICE 
OF  THE  PRESS 

To  print  the  truth,  to  give  constructive  criticism,  to 
grasp  and  properly  interpret  intellectually  the  tremen- 
dous import  of  movements  in  thought  as  well  as  in 
action  is  a  supreme  duty  of  the  press. 

The  press  of  America  has  won  national  gratitude  by 
its  splendid  loyalty  and  leadership  during  the  past  year. 
.  .  .  Whatever  the  call,  it  has  responded  with  a  cheer- 
ful "Aye,  aye,  sir!"  and  has  led  in  the  enthusiastic  sup- 
port of  every  measure  for  national  unity  and  national 
victory. 

American  Newspaper  Publishers'  Association,  New 
York,  April  25,  ipi8. 

I  FEEL  thoroughly  at  home  in  a  gathering  of 
newspaper  men,  for  I  am  an  editor  myself  by  pro- 
fession and  lifelong  service — a  newspaper  man 
with  an  assignment  to  cover  the  Navy,  a  job  that 
I  am  holding  down  with  some  difficulty.  But  it 
is  a  position  that  no  man  can  hold  without  catch- 
ing something  of  the  spirit  of  the  Service,  whose 
officers  and  men,  fearlessly  facing  any  danger, 
are  ready  to  give  their  lives  for  their  country. 
This  spirit  prevails  throughout  the  entire  Navy 
from  Admirals  to  so-called  "common  seamen." 
But  really  there  are  no  "common"  sailors — they 

[147] 


THE  NAVY  AND  TJHE  NATION 

are  all  uncommon  by  reason  of  their  courage  and 
determination. 

While  millions  of  our  brave  boys  on  sea  and 
land  are  fighting  for  the  Cause,  it  is  for  us  to 
keep  the  home  fires  burning,  to  give  them  every 
support,  to  see  that  this  whole  country  is  mobil- 
ized and  the  home  defenses  of  industry,  of  senti- 
ment, of  public  opinion  are  made  solid  and  im- 
pregnable. And  in  this  the  newspapers  of  Amer- 
ica have  a  lofty  mission  and  an  important  part. 

The  Press  is  sometimes  the  echo  of  passing 
public  opinion,  sometimes  the  creator  of  sound 
public  sentiment,  and  sometimes  the  voice  of  the 
well-considered  and  resolute  will  of  the  people. 
There  are  not  wanting  editors,  as  well  as  poli- 
ticians, who  keep  an  ear  to  the  ground  to  detect 
public  sentiment,  and,  hastening  to  become  the 
early  spokesmen,  parade  as  having  created  that 
of  which  they  are  only  the  echoes.  The  difficulty 
with  such  weather-vanes  of  our  profession  is  that 
in  their  zeal  to  prove  themselves  prophets  and 
leaders  they  mistake  hysteria  and  noise  for  con- 
viction and  thought. 

These  blind  leaders  of  the  blind  would  prove 
fatal  guides  if  they  did  not  so  often  make  the 
blunder  of  supposing  the  rushing  of  the  shallows 
to  be  the  strong  current  of  the  deeps.  Enough 
errors  in  determining  the  ebb  and  flow  of  the  tide 
saves  the  world  from  the  echo-editors.  The  peo- 
ple do  not  long  pin  their  faith  to  editors  who  feed 
them  on  chaff  when  they  ask  for  bread.  But  it 


PUBLIC  SERVICE  OF  THE  PRESS 

must  be  admitted  that  papers  do  sometimes  thrive 
for  a  time  on  hysteria  and  bunk,  though  their  in- 
fluence is  nil  in  the  long  run. 

Newspapers  as  such  never  make  public  opinion. 
It  is  only  editors  with  strong  individuality  who 
are  creators.  Therefore  the  old-time  journal  with 
a  real  man  at  the  helm,  carried  its  readers  into 
safe  ports,  while  the  journal  of  scoops  and  sen- 
sations, lacking  conscience  and  responsibility,  may 
be  truly  compared  to  a  ship  at  sea  without  rudder 
or  sail  or  steam  or  captain. 

If  the  journals  of  to-day  have  less  influence 
than  when  a  known  man  of  force  dictated  their 
policy,  it  is  because  there  is  less  sense  of  respon- 
sibility in  the  larger  editorial  staff.  I  say  "if" 
because,  while  there  are  times  when  newspaper 
support  is  a  greater  liability  than  an  asset,  the 
truth  is  that  to-day  as  never  before  public  opinion 
is  unconsciously  influenced  by  the  printed  word. 
The  best  proof  of  this  statement  is  the  interpreta- 
tion made  of  world  conditions  by  the  bulk  of  the 
Press  of  America  prior  to  our  entrance  into  this 
war. 

The  Press  was  the  self-appointed  historian  of 
the  day,  writing  history  in  the  making,  and  the 
history  of  German  frightfulness  and  aggression 
was  so  revolting  that  public  sentiment  was  ready 
to  back  up  the  President  and  the  Congress  when 
the  Imperial  German  Government  presumed  to 
assume  dominion  of  the  sea.  If  America  had  ac- 
cepted the  impertinence  of  such  dictation  it  would 

[149] 


THE  NAVY  AND  T(HE  NATION 

no  longer  have  been  a  nation  but  a  German  col- 
ony. 

We  entered  the  war  to  preserve  national  sover- 
eignty, to  make  the  world  a  safe  place  for  peace- 
loving  people  to  live  in,  and  to  render  it  forever 
impossible  that  might  should  enslave  the  world. 
Having  entered  the  war  for  these  high  motives, 
and  without  any  selfish  interest,  America  will 
wage  it  until  the  menace  of  autocracy  no  longer 
endangers  the  happiness  and  prosperity  of  man- 
kind. 

With  the  printing  of  the  news  from  the  seat  of 
war  comes  the  duty  of  editors  to  give  the  true 
perspective.  The  biggest  scoop  that  any  newspa- 
per can  score  to-day  is  the  satisfaction  of  know- 
ing that  its  readers  are  accurately  and  intelli- 
gently informed  as  to  the  meaning  and  purpose 
of  every  blow  struck  and  every  move  made  in  the 
great  struggle  to  make  mankind  truly  free.  To 
print  the  truth,  to  give  constructive  criticism,  to 
grasp  and  properly  interpret  intellectually  the  tre- 
mendous import  of  movements  in  thought  as  well 
as  in  action  is  a  supreme  duty  of  the  press. 

In  times  of  peace,  freedom  of  the  press  found 
expression  in  "scoops"  and  "stories"  that  attract- 
ed readers.  To-day  a  scoop  that  gives  away  in- 
formation about  war  plans  is  a  treasonable  act, 
or  first  cousin  to  it. 

The  Press  of  America  has  won  national  grati- 
tude by  its  splendid  loyalty  and  leadership  during 
the  past  year.  News  has  been  secondary  to  serv- 

[ISO] 


PUBLIC  SERVICE  OF  THE  PRESS 

ice.  During  the  days  after  relations  were  sev- 
ered with  Germany,  it  was  to  the  papers  that  the 
people  looked  for  a  clear  presentation  of  the  duty 
of  this  country.  It  rang  clear  and  true,  and  when 
the  declaration  of  war  was  made  in  solemn  asser- 
tion of  national  duty,  the  Press  was  almost  a  unit 
in  support  of  the  noble  utterances  of  the  Presi- 
dent. And  from  that  hour,  whether  it  was  in 
support  of  the  selective  draft,  the  recruiting  cam- 
paign, propaganda  for  the  Liberty  Loan,  food 
and  fuel  conservation,  the  drives  for  the  Red 
Cross  and  other  welfare  organizations,  or  leading 
in  community  honors  paid  to  youths  going  to  war 
— whatever  the  call,  the  Press  has  responded  with 
a  cheerful  "Aye,  aye,  sir,"  and  has  led  in  the  en- 
thusiastic support  of  every  measure  for  national 
unity  and  national  victory. 

In  every  country  at  war  except  America  there 
is  strict  censorship  of  the  Press.  Here  we  have 
none  except  such  as  is  self-imposed.  Some  of  our 
military  preparations  and  operations  cannot  be  re- 
vealed without  giving  valuable  information  to  the 
enemy.  They  would  make  great  reading,  of 
course;  but  the  publication  of  them  might  do  as 
much  damage  as  if  the  secrets  had  been  stolen  by 
German  spies. 

Free  speech  and  a  free  press  are  two  of  our 
most  precious  possessions.  It  must  be  remem- 
bered, however,  that  liberty  in  this  respect  is  at 
all  times  restricted  by  the  manifest  rights  of 
others ;  liberty  of  speech  and  liberty  of  the  press 


THE  NAVY  AND  TJJE  NATION 

in  attack  upon  the  Government  in  times  of  war 
can  never  be  permitted  to  weaken  the  authority 
of  the  nation's  responsible  head  dealing  with  a 
foreign  power.  Frank  and  honest  criticism  keeps 
clear  the  running  stream.  But  a  line  must  be 
drawn  somewhere.  Within  America,  in  domes- 
tic concerns,  let  the  press  be  encouraged  to  criti- 
cise and  condemn  where  it  detects  what  it  thinks 
is  error.  The  only  hope  for  the  best  government 
is  criticism  that  knows  neither  friend  nor  foe,  of 
national  measures  and  national  servants.  But 
when  there  is  a  state  of  war  between  this  country 
and  some  other  country,  has  a  citizen  or  an  editor 
the  right  to  say  in  print  what  can  be  used  against 
his  own  Government,  or  what  will  weaken  the 
prosecution  of  the  war  by  captious  or  carping 
criticism,  or  even  by  the  criticism  that  discloses 
what  it  has  learned  the  Government  is  doing? 

Edmund  Burke  pronounced  the  Press  "the 
Fourth  Estate,"  a  coordinate  branch  of  govern- 
ment in  a  democracy,  and  to-day,  as  never  before, 
it  has  responsibility  as  a  quasi-governmental 
agency.  The  late  John  Hay,  a  distinguished 
journalist  who  ranks  among  the  ablest  of  Secre- 
taries of  State,  understood  this  dual  relationship. 
At  an  acute  period  in  international  affairs,  Secre- 
tary Hay  was  asked  some  searching  questions  by 
the  journalists  who  daily  visited  the  State  Depart- 
ment. He  answered  them  and  proceeded  to  give 
an  illuminating  story  of  the  stage  reached  in  the 
negotiations  and  to  discuss  freely  the  complica- 


PUBLIC  SERVICE  OF  THE  PRESS 

tions.  When  he  had  finished,  he  waved  "good 
day"  and  said,  "Not  a  word  of  all  this  is  to  be 
printed."  One  of  the  journalists  asked,  "What 
would  happen,  Mr.  Secretary,  if  I  should  print 
to-morrow  the  situation  as  you  have  outlined  it?" 
\Vith  a  hardening  of  the  lines  of  his  face,  Secre- 
tary Hay  answered :  "I  should  denounce  you  as  a 
liar  and  your  story  as  a  fabrication,"  and  he  con- 
tinued :  "I  am  a  newspaper  man  myself.  To-day, 
as  a  journalist  I  have  violated  the  confidence  of 
the  Secretary  of  State  in  telling  my  brother  jour- 
nalists the  substance  of  information  received  by 
him  officially  and  in  confidence.  If  you  should 
abuse  the  confidence  of  Editor  Hay  and  publish 
what  Secretary  Hay  had  no  official  right  to  tell 
you  and  which  he  could  not  tell  you,  then  Secre- 
tary Hay  would  be  justified  in  denouncing  you  as 
a  liar  and  your  story  as  a  fabrication." 

Let  us  give  our  readers  the  true  word.  Give 
credit  to  the  men  of  this  nation  who  have  aided 
it  to  do  more  to  prepare  for  war  in  a  year  than 
has  ever  been  done  by  any  other  nation  in  history. 
Preserve  the  morale  at  home  and  you  will  hold  up 
the  hands  of  the  men  at  the  front  who  are  giving 
their  all  to  win  this  war.  Two  million  men  have 
gone  to  the  front,  and  millions  more  will  be  sent 
as  fast  as  ships  can  be  had  to  carry  them.  And 
we  are  building  ships.  The  day  will  come  when 
America  will  not  have  to  depend  upon  foreign 
bottoms  to  carry  her  goods  to  other  countries. 
We  can  have  every  confidence  in  the  future  and 

[153] 


THE  NAVY  AND  T.HE  NATION 

the  part  America  will  play  in  the  world.  I  would 
do  nothing  to  dampen  optimism  but  I  tell  you  this 
is  no  time  to  be  buoyant.  This  is  the  hour  for 
determination  and  set  teeth.  We  are  in  this  fight 
to  the  finish.  We  must  have  confidence,  but  not 
over-confidence.  The  Press  can  aid  mightily  in 
keeping  the  home  front  as  solid  as  the  battle 
front.  Not  excusing  or  concealing  faults  or  fail- 
ures, and  certainly  not  magnifying  them  so  as  to 
create  false  impressions  and  weaken  our  fighting 
arms,  we  can  assure  our  armies  and  our  allies 
that  this  country  will  not  fail  them,  that  an  undi- 
vided America  is  backing  them  to  the  limit — an 
America  of  unlimited  resources  and  measureless 
power  and  ability  and  courage. 


l'54j 


XVI 

AMERICA'S  NEW  HORIZON 

One  of  the  beneficial  results  of  this  war  will  be  a  nevr 
horizon  and  a  new  map.  It  is  for  you  to  lead  the  way  so 
that  the  great  merchant  marine  we  are  building  up  in 
war  will  be  continued  in  peace,  and  made  big  enough  to 
carry  American  cotton  and  everything  else  we  make  to 
every  island  in  the  sea. 

American  Cotton  Manufacturers'  Association,  New 
York,  May  2,  1918. 

I  SPENT  this  morning  in  the  new  aircraft  fac- 
tory which  the  Navy  has  built  and  is  enlarging  at 
the  Philadelphia  Navy  Yard,  and  I  hardly  appre- 
ciated until  I  made  this  visit  of  inspection  that  we 
owed  so  much  in  aircraft  to  the  cotton  mill  indus- 
try. The  officer  in  charge,  pointing  out  to  me  the 
things  that  were  making  for  the  more  rapid  con- 
struction and  safeguarding  of  material, pointed  to 
a  system  of  humidification,  and  I  asked,  "Where 
did  you  get  that?"  And  he  said,  "I  got  that  by 
study  of  the  cotton  mill  industry."  So,  that  when 
we  control  the  temperature  and  moisture  in  the 
airplane  factories,  we  owe  a  debt  of  gratitude 
to  the  studies  and  invention  of  men  of  your  pro- 
fession. And  as  I  went  into  another  large  build- 
ing of  this  plant  and  saw  the  men  there  making 

[155] 


THE  NAVY  AND  TjHE  NATION 

the  wings  of  these  new  engines  of  war,  one  man 
said,  "You  know  we  had  some  trouble  a  short 
while  ago  in  securing  promptly  enough  linen  for 
the  large  program  we  have  in  hand  for  aircraft, 
and  we  looked  about  to  see  what  we  could  do  to 
dispense  with  linen,  and  we  found  that  cotton  was 
better  than  linen,  having  its  strength  without  its 
brittleness."  So  that,  stumbling  as  it  may  ap- 
pear, this  morning  I  discovered  two  debts  which 
the  Navy  and  Army  owe  to  you  gentlemen  who 
had  pioneered  us  in  this  new  industry.  I  thought 
when  I  came  here  to-night  that  I  would  talk  about 
cotton,  because  I  come  from  a  section  where  cot- 
ton has  long  reigned  as  king,  and  had  the  ex- 
perience as  a  boy  of  picking  cotton,  and  picked  it 
in  the  fields  with  the  old  type  of  splendid  colored 
men  who  are  so  important  to  this  industry.  I 
have  tried  to  sing  with  them,  but  have  never 
caught  the  melody  as  they  would  sing  the  old 
tune: 

"Way  down  in  the  bottom, 
Where  the  cotton  is  all  rotten, 
And  you  can't  get  a  hundred  a  day." 

You  never  can  tell  what  cotton  will  do ;  but  you 
always  know  this:  That  the  world  cannot  live 
without  it.  We  had  thought  that  cotton  was  a 
peace  product,  and  had  thought  of  it  chiefly  as  a 
product  for  clothing  the  world,  taking  the  place 
of  more  costly  fabrics.  But  we  have  learned  now 
that  we  cannot  wage  war  without  it.  You  cannot 


AMERICA'S  NEW  HORIZON 

make  guncotton  or  high  explosives,  you  cannot 
clothe  the  men  without  it,  and  if  I  were  to  stop  and 
enumerate  the  uses  of  cotton  in  the  war,  we  would 
be  here  until  to-morrow  morning.  You  repre- 
sent an  industry  which  is  essential  to  the  war ;  and 
if  the  seas  had  not  been  kept  open  in  the  past 
three  years,  our  Allies  would  not  have  been  able 
to  manufacture  the  munitions  with  which  they 
have  fed  the  guns  and  held  the  line. 

I  am  inclined  to  think  that  you  would  rather 
hear  me  speak  on  a  topic  not  more  interesting,  not 
more  important,  but  at  the  present  time  more  vital 
than  any  product — upon  the  present  day  condi- 
tions in  our  country  and  the  world,  and  the  duty 
we  owe  to  preserve  all  we  have  worked  and  strug- 
gled for.  The  liberties  won  at  King's  Mountain, 
Guilford  Court  House,  Lexington  and  at  York- 
town  hang  in  the  balance.  We  have  seen 
anxious  hours  in  recent  weeks  but  no  ominous 
hours.  We  know  that  we  shall  pay  heavy  toll. 
We  know  that  we  shall  fear  and  mourn  the  loss 
of  many  men,  but  we  know  full  well  that,  though 
the  line  may  move  backwards  for  a  time  and 
sway,  the  line  that  holds  for  liberty  will  never 
break. 

One  of  the  beneficial  results  of  this  war  will 
be  a  new  horizon  and  a  new  map.  For  too  many 
years  we  have  been  looking  at  our  own  little  af- 
fairs and  seeing  a  small  portion  of  the  world. 
We  have  been  satisfied  to  live  within  ourselves, 
and  to  think  that  America  was  sufficient  unto  it- 

[157] 


THE  NAVY  AND  T.HE  NATION 

self.  We  have  now  seen  a  new  map,  we  have  had 
a  new  vision,  and  in  the  cotton  industry  more  than 
any  other  we  feel  the  need  and  compulsion  to  send 
our  cotton  and  cotton  goods  to  clothe  the  people 
in  every  part  of  the  world.  And  it  is  for  you  to 
lead  the  way  so  that  the  great  merchant  marine 
we  are  building  up  in  war  will  be  continued  in 
peace  and  made  big  enough  to  carry  American 
cotton  and  everything  else  we  make  to  every  is- 
land in  the  sea. 

There  is  another  compensation  which  we  may 
find  in  this  tragedy:  A  compensation  of  a  new 
American  unity.  Before  this  great  war  men  of 
different  views  did  not  see  eye  to  eye  and  touch 
elbow  to  elbow.  A  few  years  ago  we  had  bitter 
partisan  discussions,  and  the  fact  is,  there  were 
times  when  we  Democrats  felt  that  some  of  you 
Republicans  were  pretty  bad  fellows.  Honestly, 
we  did.  It  was  not  any  campaign  cry;  we  be- 
lieved it,  and  sometimes  we  proved  it.  And  you 
Republicans  believed  some  of  us  Democrats  were 
pretty  bad  fellows,  and  the  worst  of  it  is,  some- 
times you  proved  it ;  but  we  have  lived  to  see  the 
day  when  all  of  us  have  put  aside  the  rancor  of 
partisanship,  and  politics  has  blossomed  into  pa- 
triotism. 

When  Mr.  Jefferson  was  inaugurated  he  came 
into  the  presidency  after  the  first  bitter  political 
campaign  this  country  had  known,  and  if  any  of 
us  think  in  our  day  partisans  can  say  bitter  things 
about  opponents,  read  what  they  said  in  Jeffer- 


AMERICA'S  NEW  HORIZON 

son's  day.  And  yet  when  that  great  man  came 
to  take  the  oath  of  office  he  used  these  words: 
"All  differences  of  opinion  are  not  differences  of 
principle.  We  are  all,"  he  said,  "Federalists,  we 
are  all  Republicans."  So  to-day,  in  the  shadow 
of  this  great  war  we  say  we  are  all  Democrats,  we 
are  all  Republicans,  we  are  all  Americans. 

There  are  other  compensations  which  we  may 
find.  To-night  when  the  band  struck  up  "Dixie" 
all  of  us  from  the  Cotton  States  felt  a  new  thrill. 
We  always  feel  it,  and  the  older  men  like  Mr.  Cal- 
laway  gave  the  Rebel  yell. 

I  heard  a  very  distinguished  American,  who 
has  proved  his  Americanism  in  these  days — I  re- 
fer to  ex-President  William  H.  Taft — say  that 
"Dixie"  was  so  fine  a  tune  that  it  did  not  belong 
to  any  section  of  the  Republic,  but  was  a  national 
air. 

We  have  come  to  see  the  day,  and  I  believe  it 
has  come  forever,  when  sectionalism  is  dead  and 
buried  in  America.  During  the  past  year  more 
than  half  a  million  of  young  men  of  other 
states  represented  here  have  been  in  Southern 
camps  to  get  ready  for  the  great  adventure  be- 
fore them,  and  they  are  going  over  to  fight,  sing- 
ing "The  Yanks  are  Coming"  to  the  tune  of 
"Dixie."  The  boys  from  North  Carolina  and 
Mississippi  and  every  Southern  state  are  singing 
that  tune  to-day,  because  when  you  sing  "The 
Yanks  are  Coming"  it  is  only  another  term  for 
"The  Americans  are  Coming." 

[159] 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

We  are  getting  a  new  conception  of  American- 
ism— that  we  are  all  of  the  same  faith,  differing 
only  in  opportunities  and  advantages;  and  with 
that  spirit  enlisted  and  the  Republic  mobilized, 
there  is  no  more  doubt  that  we  will  win  than  that 
God  rules  in  the  heavens. 

I  have  never  yet  appealed  to  a  man  to  buy  a 
Liberty  bond.  I  have  sometimes  offered  him  the 
privilege  of  doing  it  and  when  we  look  into  our 
own  hearts,  those  of  us  who  are  older,  who  are  not 
daily  exposed  to  the  terrors  of  the  submarine,  or 
of  winning  mud  and  glory  in  the  trenches,  and  fail 
to  pour  out  everything  we  have  to  back  these  boys, 
our  names  are  not  worthy  to  go  on  the  roster  be- 
side them. 

When  the  first  Liberty  bonds  were  offered  an 
appeal  was  made  to  ministers  to  bring  the  matter 
to  the  attention  of  their  congregations,  because 
the  line  of  demarcation  between  what  is  secular 
and  religious  is  ended.  This  is  a  holy  war  and 
religion  and  patriotism  are  married. 

There  was  an  old  colored  minister  in  North 
Carolina,  a  pious,  patriotic  old  man,  who,  when 
he  received  this  request,  went  into  his  pulpit  the 
next  Sunday  morning  and  preached  the  best  ser- 
mon on  record.  Very  brief,  too,  as  sermons 
should  be.  He  said :  "My  brethren,  I  have  been 
requested,  and  I  do  so  cheerfully  and  gladly,  to 
preach  on  Liberty  bonds.  There  are  just  three 
kinds  of  bonds.  The  first  are  the  bonds  of 
slavery,  from  which  as  a  race  we  have  been  eman- 

[160] 


AMERICA'S  NEW  HORIZON 

cipated;  second,  the  bonds  of  matrimony,  which 
we  must  endure ;  and,  third,  Liberty  bonds,  which 
we  must  buy." 

Now,  if  there  were  any  ladies  here  I  would  not 
dare  tell  that  story  without  change,  because  they 
would  misunderstand  the  "secondly"  of  the  old 
man's  sermon.  If  I  had  been  preaching  that  ser- 
mon I  would  have  changed  "secondly"  and  I 
would  have  said,  "The  bonds  of  matrimony,  the 
bulwark  of  happiness  and  civilization  and  re- 
ligion." 

We  need  to  rise  to  the  altitude  of  serving  our 
country  in  some  way  that  costs  us  something. 
The  man  who  writes  his  check  for  a  large  sub- 
scription for  Liberty  bonds  with  a  bank  over- 
flowing with  money,  unless  he  makes  it  big  enough 
to  hurt,  has  not  measured  up  to  the  opportunity 
of  this  hour. 

Let  me  tell  you  the  story  of  an  old  farmer. 
When  the  bonds  were  first  offered,  an  old  farmer, 
who  had  lived  on  a  poor  farm  for  forty  years,  had 
managed  to  save  up,  by  close  economy,  a  thousand 
dollars.  It  was  all  he  had.  When  the  war  came 
he  gave  his  five  sons  to  the  cause  and  then  he  took 
this  thousand  dollars  to  the  village  and  bought  a 
Liberty  bond.  Six  months  passed  by  and  he 
wrote  a  letter  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
something  like  this:  "My  dear  Mr.  McAdoo: 
When  you  asked  for  subscriptions  for  Liberty 
bonds  last  May  in  order  to  lick  the  Huns — (he 
had  no  doubt  of  what  was  going  to  happen) — I 

[161] 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

gave  my  bond  for  a  thousand  dollars.  I  am  writ- 
ing you  now,  sir,  to  ask  you  to  whom  I  shall  pay 
the  interest." 

Now  the  Government  of  your  country,  repre- 
senting all  of  us  alike,  is  not  asking  any  man  to 
buy  a  bond  and  pay  the  interest.  But  you  had 
better  buy  the  bond  and  pay  the  interest,  rather 
than  pay  Germany  the  indemnity  which  would 
leave  us  nothing. 

I  must  not  speak  longer — 

(A  voice:  "Tell  us  more  about  the  Navy.") 

The  gentleman  says  he  wants  to  know  more 
about  the  Navy.  I  was  talking  to-night  to  one 
of  the  most  successful  manufacturers  of  cotton 
in  America,  as  I  had  talked  before  with  such  men 
as  Julius  Rosenwald  and  Henry  Ford,  and  he  and 
they  said  that  there  was  not  in  America  a  busi- 
ness institution  run  so  well  as  the  Navy.  And 
you  cotton  mill  men  know  it.  Sometimes  we  have 
not  always  agreed  on  the  price;  sometimes  you 
have  persuaded  yourselves  that  the  price  to  be 
charged  for  cotton  duck  or  gauze  or  some  other 
product  was  more  than  we  thought  it  ought  to 
be;  but  you  have  always  found  that  the  respon- 
sible men  in  the  department  of  supplies,  repre- 
sented here  to-night  by  Commander  John  M.  Han- 
cock, had  as  much  ability  as  any  man  in  the  cot- 
ton mill  associations.  But  you  have  found  when 
you  talked  with  him  and  his  associates  that  the 
Navy  Department,  and  other  departments  of  the 
Government,  offered  and  wished  to  pay  always  a 


AMERICA'S  NEW  HORIZON 

price  that  would  justify  adequate  wages  for  men 
who  worked  in  this  industry,  and  adequate  profits ; 
always  making  it  plain  that  these  profits  should 
not  be  in  excess  of  average  profits  in  peace  time. 
It  is  well  that  we  all  discuss  these  matters  to- 
gether because  you  have  the  same  interest  in  the 
dollars  the  Government  expends  as  those  who  ex- 
pend them.  As  trustees  of  your  money,  if  we  pay 
a  dollar  more  for  cotton  goods  or  steel  than  is 
right  you  would  say  that  we  were  unfaithful  serv- 
ants. 

I  said  just  now  that  this  was  a  holy  war,  a  war 
in  which  America  has  nothing  to  gain  selfishly,  a 
war  which  we  have  gone  into  to  protect  the  liber- 
ties won  for  us  by  our  forefathers,  and  that  we 
would  fight  it  through  on  this  line  if  it  would  take 
all  summer  and  all  winter,  and  this  year  and  next 
year  and  the  next  year  and  twenty  years  until  we 
win  victory. 

When  to-night  forty  thousand  young  men  on 
small  craft  of  your  Navy,  which  deserves  the  con- 
fidence you  repose  in  it,  are  risking  their  lives,  to- 
gether with  hundreds  of  thousands  of  young  sol- 
diers in  the  most  terrible  battle  of  the  world 
(mayhap  the  decisive  battle  of  civilization),  it 
is  as  little  as  we  can  do  to  give  all  we  have  of  self 
and  effort  to  serve  our  country  and  to  back  up  the 
boys  over  there. 


THE   STAR   OF   HOPE  AND    FAITH    UNDIMMED 

To  the  glory  of  the  churches,  they  have  themselves  had 
a  new  baptism,  ascended  the  mountain  top  and  obtained 
a  new  vision,  and  are  calling  to  a  world  resolved  to 
preserve  freedom  by  a  new  consecration.  This  war  will 
not  be  won  by  might  alone.  It  will  be  won  by  faith, 
by  prayer,  by  the  courage  which  God  imparts  to  all  who  in 
their  hour  of  need  look  to  Him  for  guidance  and  for 
strength. 

General  Conference  of  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
South;  Atlanta,  Georgia,  May  n,  1918. 

LET  us  rejoice  that  the  young  men  of  valor 
making  ready  for  war  have  been  trained  alike  in 
Camp  Grant  and  Camp  Lee,  Camp  Sheridan  and 
Camp  Stonewall  Jackson,  Camp  Sherman  and 
Camp  Gordon,  thus  demonstrating  in  actual  war- 
fare the  cementing  of  the  patriotism  of  the  whole 
Republic  in  the  struggle  to  preserve  for  mankind 
the  principles  incarnated  in  the  national  air  and 
in  the  waving  Stars  and  Stripes.  It  was  in  At- 
lanta that  the  patriotic  McKinley,  a  Methodist, 
warmed  all  patriotic  hearts  by  proposing  that  on 
May  3Oth,  of  every  year,  the  graves  of  the  men 
who  fought  under  Lee  and  under  Grant  should 
be  decorated  alike  in  recognition  of  their  common 


HOPE  AND  FAITH  UNDIMMED 

heroism  and  their  equal  devotion  to  the  Right  as 
God  gave  them  to  see  the  Right.  Let  us  be 
cheered  and  strengthened  that  this  utterance  of 
the  martyred  McKinley  was  of  a  part  with  the 
counsel  of  mat  other  Methodist  President,  Gen- 
eral Grant,  when  he  said,  "Let  us  have  peace." 

Recently,  in  selecting  names  for  the  new  de- 
stroyers, I  came  to  Georgia  for  an  illustrious 
name  for  this  best  weapon  against  the  submarine 
menace,  and  it  will  be  christened  Tattnall  after 
the  brave  Georgia  naval  officer  who  made  famous 
by  his  assistance  to  our  British  cousins  his  dec- 
laration that  "Blood  is  thicker  than  water."  The 
Tattnall  will  fight  alongside  the  Farragut,  another 
evidence  that  the  war  of  brothers  has  left  behind 
it  nothing  but  common  consecration  to  a  reunited 
country,  mutual  appreciation  of  courage,  which 
demonstrated  America's  ability  to  fight  without 
hate  and  without  barbarism,  and  to  forget  the 
differences  which  no  longer  divide  those  sections 
once  in  conflict. 

In  this  critical  hour,  when  partisanship  has 
bourgeoned  into  patriotism,  when  sectionalism 
has  blossomed  into  national  unity,  and  love  of  the 
Republic  has  broadened  so  as  to  help  to  insure 
freedom  and  democracy  for  all  nations,  great  and 
small,  the  supreme  duty  of  Methodists,  North  and 
South,  is  to  make  any  and  all  sacrifices  that  may 
be  necessary  to  mobilize  Methodists  into  one 
mighty  church.  We  have  lost  much  by  the  divi- 
sions and  seen  much  wasted  effort.  There  is  no 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

excuse  for  a  Northern  Methodist  Church  in  At- 
lanta or  a  Southern  Methodist  Church  in  Seattle. 
If  politicians  and  business  men  have  forgotten 
there  was  a  Mason  and  Dixon's  line,  the  Metho- 
dist churches  cannot  wisely  longer  march  in  sepa- 
rate columns  under  separate  organizations.  Effi- 
cient maneuvering  against  the  forces  of  evil  calls 
for  a  solidarity  of  movement  for  the  overthrow  of 
evil.  This  demands  the  uniting  under  one  organ- 
ization of  all  who  proudly  follow  where  Wesley 
blazed  the  way.  Why  delay?  Once  let  Metho- 
dists of  all  branches  see  that  their  high  duty  is 
to  unite,  and  the  obstacles  will  be  made  to  melt 
away  and  during  the  world-war  we  shall  realize 
the  benediction  of  a  Methodism  that  is  one  in 
faith,  one  in  zeal,  and  one  in  resolve  to  measure 
up  to  the  high  responsibilities  which  large  mem- 
bership imposes  upon  it  united  in  one  organized 
force.  With  the  largest  number  of  communicants 
of  any  Protestant  church  in  America, — seven  mil- 
lions— the  opportunity  of  service  and  responsi- 
bility for  rendering  the  highest  service  is  a  call 
to  Methodists  to  re-adopt  the  shibboleth  of  Wes- 
ley, "The  world  is  my  parish,"  and  go  forth  car- 
rying the  old  gospel  to  men  in  arms  and  carrying 
cheer  as  well  into  the  homes  from  which  these 
young  men  have  gone  to  win  the  victory  for  all 
we  all  hold  dear. 

A  recent  occurrence  across  the  waters  gives  a 
new  reason,  and  a  convincing  one,  for  one  organ- 
ization of  Methodists.  For  more  than  three 

[166] 


HOPE  AND  FAITH  UNDIMMED 

years  the  allied  countries,  each  under  its  own  mili- 
tary commanders,  have  waged  war  against  one 
centralized  military  power.  They  have  fought 
well  and  bravely,  their  leaders  have  not  been 
wanting  in  ability  and  courage,  but  there  lacked 
the  unified  direction  which  is  essential  for  suc- 
cessful warfare.  America,  from  its  earliest  en- 
trance into  war,  favored  one  supreme  command 
of  all  the  allied  forces,  but  there  were  difficulties 
and  some  able  men  could  not  see  the  way  to  a 
single  supreme  organization  until  the  great  Ger- 
man drive  in  March.  Then  what  had  been  seen 
as  something  desirable  became  something  imper- 
ative. In  the  imminence  of  the  peril  of  the  Prus- 
sian onslaught,  obstacles  against  one  supreme 
military  leader  melted  away,  and  to-day  Ameri- 
can and  British,  French  and  Italian  and  other 
allied  forces  are  mobilized  into  one  invincible 
army  under  the  direction  of  that  illustrious 
French  soldier,  General  Foch,  regarded  by  all  as 
the  fittest  to  command  the  armies  of  liberty.  In 
this  coming  together  as  one  big  army,  instead,  as 
during  three  years'  fighting,  in  separate  organiza- 
tions, does  not  the  recent  wise  action  in  France 
afford  a  convincing  reason  why  American  Meth- 
odists should  do  likewise,  and  gain  strength  and 
power  by  solidarity  in  the  onward  movement  of 
their  mighty  Christian  Army? 

The  only  solid  foundation  upon  which  all  civil- 
ization rests  to-day  is  Christianity,  and  the 
church  is  the  bride  of  Christ.  Religion  alone 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

abides  in  the  hearts  of  men.  We  may  not  under- 
stand why  God  permits  war,  our  faith  may  at 
times  falter,  but  the  only  sure  anchor  of  the  soul 
is  the  knowledge  that  God  is  in  His  Heaven,  and 
that,  after  the  thunders  of  war,  He  will  give  us 
to  see  that  in  the  better  days  before  us  "all  is 
well  with  the  world."  It  will  be  well  with  us  be- 
cause we  are  fighting  in  a  righteous  war.  With 
no  unholy  or  selfish  aims,  we  are  justified  in  the 
confident  faith  that  God  will  give  victory  to  our 
arms  and  put  it  into  the  hearts  of  men  to  estab- 
lish here  on  earth  governments  that  promote 
peace  and  justice,  freed  from  greed  and  self-ag- 
grandizement. 

This  war  is  a  challenge  to  Christianity.  There 
are  not  wanting  those  whose  faith  in  God  has 
wavered  because  of  the  awful  slaughter,  and 
some  have  said  this  war  shows  that  Christian 
civilization  has  failed.  That  is  the  superficial 
view.  But  that  is  not  the  true  view.  Christian- 
ity has  not  failed.  It  alone  is  the  Star  of  Hope. 
A  study  of  Prussianism  discloses  that  in  that 
country  the  State  had  usurped  the  place  of  God, 
and  that  spirituality  had  given  place  to  material- 
ism. No  people  could  wantonly  wage  war  for 
spoils  who  had  not  repudiated  the  teachings  of 
Jesus  Christ.  Prussia  outwardly  professed  the 
religion  of  the  Nazarene.  Inwardly  it  has  for 
years  denied  His  teachings  and  the  fruit  of  its 
materialism  is  seen  in  its  brutal  war  upon  women 
and  children.  Men  and  nations  may  stand  in  the 

[168] 


HOPE  AND  FAITH  UNDIMMED 

market  places,  and  give  lip-service,  but  it  is  true 
of  nations,  as  of  individuals,  "by  their  fruits  shall 
ye  know  them." 

To-day  the  world  in  travail  looks  to  the  church 
as  the  representative  of  the  living  God  to  recall 
men  and  women  to  the  old  gospel,  the  only  sup- 
port, the  only  firm  foundation,  the  only  Light. 
All  other  creeds  have  failed,  all  other  foundations 
have  crumbled,  all  other  lights  have  gone  out. 
To  the  glory  of  the  churches,  they  have  them- 
selves had  a  new  baptism,  ascended  the  mountain 
top  and  obtained  a  new  vision,  and  are  calling  to 
a  world  resolved  to  preserve  freedom  to  a  new 
consecration.  The  war  will  not  be  won  by  might 
alone.  It  will  be  won  by  faith,  by  prayer,  by  the 
courage  which  God  imparts  to  all  who  in  their 
hour  of  need  look  to  Him  for  guidance  and  for 
strength. 


[169] 


XVIII 

AS  THEY  GO  FORTH  TO  BATTLE 

This  day  marks  your  reveille.  You  have  been  sum- 
moned to  duty.  This  parchment  I  hand  you  is  your  call 
to  battle  and  your  warrant  of  service.  .  .  .  Serve  well; 
think  cleanly,  live  cleanly,  shoot  hard;  play  fair;  act  so 
that  when  the  end  comes  you  have  helped  yourself  and 
each  one  of  us  others  to  say,  "Thank  God,  I,  too,  am 
an  American." 

Address  to  Graduating  Class,  U.  S.  Naval  Academy, 
Annapolis,  Md.,  June  6, 


TO-DAY  you  become  the  defenders  of  Right, 
of  Justice  and  of  Freedom.  To-day  you  become 
the  defenders  of  America  and  her  gallant  associ- 
ates in  the  war.  To-day  you  become  official 
guardians  of  the  nation  and  trustees  of  one  of 
her  greatest  possessions  —  her  Navy  with  its 
glorious  record,  written  in  the  splendid  deeds  of 
these  days  and  the  thrilling  traditions  of  her  yes- 
terdays. 

From  now  on  you  will  wear  the  uniform  of 
John  Paul  Jones;  of  Barry;  of  Decatur;  of  Law- 
rence; of  Hull;  of  Farragut;  of  Dewey  and  of 
that  host  who,  great  themselves  in  devotion,  sac- 
rifice and  courage,  helped  to  make  America  great. 
Their  heritage  is  yours.  Let  their  spirit  prompt 

[170] 


your  stewardship.  But  the  measure  of  your  in- 
spiration is  not  limited  to  the  memories  of  these 
men,  great  as  they  are.  Yours  is  the  good  fortune 
to  have  added  to  that  immortal  band  the  names  of 
those  who  served  and  fought  under  other  flags 
but  who  now  are  our  blood  brothers ;  whose  sons 
are  now  our  companions  in  arms;  whose  coun- 
tries are  allied  with  us  in  our  great  quest.  The 
magnificent  Nelson,  Blake,  Drake,  Frobisher, 
Hawkins,  De  Grasse — into  your  hearts  their  spir- 
its enter,  for  you  are  fighting  for  what  they 
fought  for — Liberty. 

Fortunate  youth!  Fortunate  because  it  is 
given  you  to  prove  that  the  age  of  chivalry  is  not 
dead — that  chivalry  was  never  more  alive  than 
now.  The  holiest  of  the  crusades  was  motived 
by  no  finer  impulse  than  has  brought  us  into  this 
war.  To  prove  that  life  means  more  than  force ; 
to  prove  that  principle  is  still  worth  fighting  for ; 
to  prove  that  Freedom  means  more  than  dollars ; 
that  self-respect  is  better  than  compromise;  to 
be  ready  to  sacrifice  all  so  that  the  world  may 
be  made  the  better — what  nobler  dedication  of 
himself  can  a  man  make? 

We  have  come  into  this  war  with  no  thought 
of  material  gain ;  with  no  hope  of  measurable  re- 
ward; with  no  desire  for  power;  with  no  lust  of 
battle.  We  have  come  in  with  pity  and  with  hate 
in  our  hearts — pity  for  those  whom  a  soulless  in- 
ternational outlaw  has  ravished  and  destroyed, 
and  hate  for  the  despicable  things  he  has  done 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

under  the  specious  plea  of  military  right.  War 
upon  the  aged  and  the  infirm;  war  upon 
women  and  children;  war  upon  neutrals;  war 
upon  the  Red  Cross — and  then  the  Prussians  call 
it  an  act  of  military  necessity! 

No  greater  message  was  ever  spoken  to  inspire 
great  deeds  than  that  which  forms  our  creed — 
yours  and  mine.  "We  have  no  selfish  ends  to 
serve.  We  desire  no  conquests  and  no  domin- 
ion. We  seek  no  indemnities  for  ourselves  and 
no  material  compensation  for  sacrifices  we  shall 
freely  make.  We  are  but  one  of  the  champions 
of  the  rights  of  mankind,  and  shall  be  satisfied 
when  these  rights  are  as  secure  as  fact  and  the 
freedom  of  nations  can  make  them."  That  is 
your  formula  of  action  as  written  by  your  Com- 
mander-in-Chief. 

You  men  enter  upon  your  careers  of  translat- 
ing these  words  into  deeds  at  a  time  when  the  ene- 
my has  brought  the  war  to  our  very  doors.  Why 
has  he  done  so  ?  Does  he  think  to  frighten  us  by 
so  doing?  No!  A  thousand  times  no.  He  has 
intensified  the  fire  of  our  passion.  He  has 
brought  home  to  us  the  need  of  strength  and  more 
strength  so  that  he  may  the  more  quickly  and 
the  more  thoroughly  be  stripped  of  his  arrogance. 

No,  it  is  not  what  he  does  that  counts.  It  is 
what  we  do.  He  may  bend  our  lines;  he  may 
even  break  them,  but  he  cannot  break  our  spirit. 
With  stout  hearts  and  our  heads  unbowed,  the 
end  is  certain.  He  will  shatter  against  our  spirit 

[172] 


AS  THEY  GO  FORTH  TO  BATTLE 

like  the  waves  against  our  imperishable  rocks  un- 
til his  strength  and  his  fury  vanish  against  our 
unconquerable  spirit. 

This  is  not  a  war  of  fleets  and  armies  alone; 
it  is  a  war  of  peoples ;  of  nations.  And  when  al- 
most all  of  the  liberty-loving  nations  of  the  world 
are  unified  by  great  purpose  the  outcome  cannot 
be  doubted. 

We  were  not  a  warlike  nation.  But  we  have 
the  courage,  the  stamina  and  the  intelligence  to 
enable  us  to  learn  the  arts  of  war.  We  are  learn- 
ing fast — so  fast  that  already  we  have  been  able 
to  demonstrate  our  worth.  But  we  do  more  than 
fight  with  arms.  We  fight  with  even  greater 
weapons,  imponderable  though  they  may  be. 
And  because  of  them  Germany  can  never  win 
the  war.  She  can  never  win  it  even  if  her  armies 
marched  simultaneously  down  the  streets  of  Paris 
and  of  London,  for  America  has  called  into  life 
those  forces  that  not  all  the  cannon  in  the  world 
can  kill;  those  elements  of  Justice,  of  Right  and 
of  Liberty  that  no  conqueror  can  long  hold  pris- 
oner. Sooner  or  later  they  will  rise  and  over- 
whelm the  Prussian  spirit  which  still  worships 
the  Gospel  of  Might.  This  war  will  go  far  to- 
ward forever  stilling  that  creed,  and  a  great  part 
of  that  victory — be  it  soon  or  be  it  deferred — 
will  belong  to  us,  and  to  us  because  of  the  vision 
of  the  President. 

The  Germans  are  not  fighting  against  armies 
only;  they  are  battling  against  principles;  they 

[173] 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

are  not  fighting  against  men;  they  are  fighting 
against  spirit.  Soon  they  will  be  broken,  and  they 
will  have  learned  that  the  world  is  ruled  not  by 
the  Law  of  Force  but  by  the  Force  of  Law. 

"For  freedom's  battle,  once  begun, 
Bequeathed  by  bleeding  sire  to  son, 
Though  baffled  oft  is  ever  won." 

This  day  marks  your  reveille.  You  have  been 
summoned  to  duty.  This  parchment  I  hand  you 
is  your  call  to  battle  and  your  warrant  of  service. 
And  at  this  time — at  all  times — all  that  a  man 
should  and  does  desire  is  encompassed  by  that 
word.  Serve  well;  think  clearly,  live  cleanly, 
shoot  hard;  play  fair;  act  so  that  when  the  end 
comes  you  have  helped  yourself  and  each  one  of 
us  others  to  say,  "Thank  God,  I,  too,  am  an 
American !" 

I  have  brought  you  to-day  a  message  from  a 
fighter  and  thinker  of  your  own  profession,  for 
the  best  stimulus  you  will  receive  will  come  from 
the  able  men  who  have  helped  to  impart  new  ideas 
to  our  Navy  and  who  each  day  seek  to  learn  and 
put  into  practice  not  only  what  experience  has 
taught  our  own  Navy,  but  to  adopt  the  best 
thoughts  of  the  ablest  naval  thinkers  of  the  world. 
Even  before  this  country  became  a  participant  in 
this  war,  your  Commander-in-Chief,  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States,  whose  appreciation  of 
naval  power  and  naval  needs  has  given  the  Navy 
the  greatest  forward  impulse  in  its  history,  sent 


AS  THEY  GO  FORTH  TO  BATTLE 

Admiral  Sims  to  Europe  as  an  observer  and  stu- 
dent to  keep  his  country  posted.  Since  America 
has  hastened  to  bear  its  part  in  the  war,  the  Presi- 
dent has  promoted  Rear  Admiral  Sims  to  Vice- 
Admiral.  He  enjoys  the  confidence  of  naval 
statesmen  in  all  the  allied  nations,  and  is  recog- 
nized as  one  of  the  most  brilliant  officers  in  the 
world.  A  few  days  ago  I  sent  him  a  cablegram 
suggesting  that  upon  graduation  day  the  new 
officers  of  the  Navy  would  value  a  sentiment 
from  him.  In  response  to  that  message,  Vice- Ad- 
miral Sims  has  sent  the  following,  by  which 
every  young  officer  of  the  Navy  will  be  helped  and 
stimulated  : 

London,  England, 

HON.  JOSEPHUS  DANIELS,  June  5'  igiS' 

Secretary  of  the  Navy, 
Washington,  D.  C. 

In  response  to  your  suggestion  of  a  message  to  the 
Graduating  Class  at  the  Naval  Academy,  this  week,  show- 
ing what  education  at  Annapolis  has  meant  in  this  war, 
let  me  say  that  all  our  experience  in  Europe  shows  the 
great  value  of  the  Annapolis  education  in  all  cases  where 
the  officers  have  realized  that  their  Academy  training  is 
only  a  foundation  upon  which  to  build  real  military 
knowledge  and  efficiency.  This  efficiency  will  depend 
upon  your  success  in  learning  the  practical  duties  of  your 
profession,  in  learning  the  principles  of  warfare,  in 
learning  to  control  and  lead  men,  in  promoting  the  team 
work  of  your  ship  or  organization,  in  perfecting  every 
duty  to  the  best  of  your  ability  and  generally  in  doing 
your  utmost  to  aid  in  every  way  the  work  of  your  im- 
mediate superiors. 

Do  not  underestimate  your  ability.  No  matter  what 
your  Academy  standing  may  be,  continuous  work  will 

[175] 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

overcome  any  obstacles.  The  cumulative  effect  of  an 
hour's  study  a  day  makes  the  difference  between  an  edu- 
cated and  an  uneducated  officer.  If  you  will  make  a 
study  of  military  character  and  apply  it  honestly  to 
your  own  case  you  will  recognize  that  the  quality  we 
seniors  value  most  highly  is  the  support  of  our  juniors. 
This  means  not  simply  doing  what  you  are  told,  but 
using  your  brains  and  doing  it  willingly,  cheerfully, 
zealously  and  in  entire  loyalty  to  the  team  of  which  you 
happen  to  be  a  part.  If  the  last  man  in  the  class  con- 
sistently gives  this  support  to  his  seniors  and  to  his 
team  he  will  be  a  more  successful  officer  than  any  star 
member  who  neglects  these  precepts. 

WM.  S.  SIMS. 

Sometimes  the  path  of  duty  is  through  the  gates 
of  death,  but  always  up  the  shining  mountain  of 
Glory.  The  men  graduating  from  the  Naval 
Academy  to-day  and  more  than  400,000  others 
of  their  comrades  gladly  follow  where  they  led. 
Neither  those  early  called  to  shine  with  the  stars 
nor  those  in  the  rigorous  duty  of  the  sea  asked 
for  any  task  except  the  task  of  peril  and  no  place 
except  the  post  of  danger.  They  lessened  the 
menace  of  the  submarine  across  the  ocean,  and 
assured  bread  and  help  to  our  associates  in 
battle  to  whom  we  owed  sustenance  and  aid.  They 
set  at  naught  the  proud  Prussian  boast  that  they 
would  bring  Great  Britain  to  the  point  of  starva- 
tion, and  have  held  the  sea  and  kept  open  the  road 
to  France  over  which  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
American  troops  have  been  carried. 


XIX 

COLLEGES  IN  THE  NEW  CRUSADE 

The  world  has  learned  as  never  before  that  the  col- 
lege, the  university  is  no  cloistered  retreat  where  men 
delve  in  dusty  volumes,  but  that  it  is  a  work-shop  where 
science  adds  to  human  happiness  in  peace  and  gives  new 
strength  to  the  national  aim  in  war.  Better  than  all: 
our  colleges  are  the  repositories  of  enthusiasm,  patriotism 
and  zeal,  where  youths  follow  Jefferson's  injunction, 
"Love  your  country  more  than  yourself,"  and  in  that 
sign  they  and  other  young  Americans  will  conquer. 

Commencement  Day,  University  of  Virginia,  Char- 
lottesville,  Va.,  June  n,  1918. 

IN  the  philosophy  of  Jefferson  there  is  light 
and  direction  for  every  change  and  chance  in  hu- 
man experience.  His  understanding  of  human 
aspiration  and  his  many-sided  sympathies  em- 
braced all  ranges  of  thought,  compassed  all  sys- 
tems of  government,  constituted  him  the  coun- 
selor of  men  seeking  the  best  in  every  domain  of 
life,  and  make  him  to-day  as  much  the  brother 
of  lovers  of  liberty  as  he  was  when  he  loved 
America  and  France  into  lasting  friendship.  It 
is  the  glory  of  this  university,  born  in  the  brain 
of  Jefferson,  that  its  mission  has  ever  been,  as  ex- 
pressed by  its  founder,  "for  here  we  are  not 

[177] 


afraid  to  follow  truth  wherever  it  may  lead,  nor 
to  tolerate  any  error  so  long  as  reason  is  left  free 
to  combat  it."  In  former  annuals  here  in  times 
of  peace  men  have  turned  with  confidence  to  the 
teachings  and  writings  of  Jefferson  for  right 
guidance.  To-day,  with  all  the  world  at  war, 
what  illumination  shines  from  the  lamps  kindled 
by  the  Sage  of  Monticello? 

No  man  has  lived  who  worshiped  more  sin- 
cerely at  the  shrine  of  peace  than  Jefferson,  and 
yet  he  wrote  the  document  that  has  furnished  the 
slogans  of  every  fighter  for  freedom  for  a  cen- 
tury and  a  half.  "I  abhor  war  and  view  it  as  the 
greatest  scourge  of  mankind,"  he  wrote  to  El- 
bridge  Gerry  in  1797.  That  sentiment,  iterated 
and  reiterated  during  his  long  life,  was  his  pas- 
sion. It  was  not  only  consistent  with,  but  a 
necessary  accompaniment  to  his  declaration  made 
four  years  earlier,  "We  in  Virginia  are  alarmed 
with  apprehension  of  war,  and  sincerely  anxious 
that  it  may  be  avoided ;  but  not  at  the  expense  of 
our  faith  and  honor." 

The  America  of  to-day,  with  all  its  manhood 
and  resource  engaged  in  war,  is  animated  by  the 
spirit  of  Jefferson  in  regarding  war  as  the  great- 
est scourge  of  mankind,  to  be  embraced  only 
when  to  do  otherwise  would  be  at  "the  expense  of 
our  faith  and  honor."  This  country  sought  to 
live  in  peace  with  all  nations  during  the  early 
months  of  this  war,  and  vainly  endeavored  by 
diplomacy  to  end  the  murder  of  non-combatants 


COLLEGES  IN  THE  NEW  CRUSADE 

at  sea  before  resorting  to  the  sword.  In  1807  Jef- 
ferson wrote  to  Madame  de  Stael,  "When  wrongs 
are  pressed  because  it  is  believed  they  will  be 
borne,  resistance  becomes  morality."  That  was 
the  impelling  cause  of  America's  entering  this 
war.  Wrongs — the  wrongs  of  assassination  and 
wanton  disregard  of  plighted  faith  and  the  viola- 
tion of  person  and  property — were  "pressed" 
against  American  rights  by  the  Imperial  German 
Government  because  its  ruler  believed  "they 
would  be  borne."  When  reason,  demands  and 
diplomacy  failed  to  preserve  the  right  of  peaceful 
nations  to  sail  the  seas  and  protect  its  people  and 
maintain  its  rights,  then,  in  the  words  of  Jeffer- 
son, "resistance"  became  "morality."  President 
Wilson's  war  message  to  Congress  breathes  the 
spirit  of  Jefferson.  The  people  chose  war  as  the 
last  resort  only.  When  crimes  were  multiplied 
and  "pressed,"  failure  to  resist  would  have  been 
proof  of  national  lack  of  "morality"  and  evidence 
of  national  decadence.  "If  ever  there  was  a  holy 
war  it  was  that  which  saved  our  liberties  and  gave 
us  independence,"  declared  Jefferson,  looking 
back  upon  it  and  measuring  it  in  the  light  of  his 
abhorrence  of  war.  His  verdict  upon  the  war  of 
the  Revolution  will  be  the  verdict  of  posterity 
upon  the  present  war  against  Prussian  aggres- 
sion. Is  not  that  the  most  descriptive  name  to 
apply  to  it? 

Jefferson  understood,  too,  the  necessity  and 
certainty  of  national  unity  during  wars,  when  he 

[179] 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

said,  "If  we  are  forced  into  war  we  must  give  up 
political  differences,  and  unite  as  one  man  to  de- 
fend our  country."  What  he  asserted  as  essential 
when  a  country  is  at  war  has  been  attested  to  in 
our  day  by  President  Wilson,  who  recently  said 
that  one  year  of  war  had  cemented  us  together 
as  a  nation  more  than  half  a  century  of  peace. 

In  what  is  our  confidence  of  victory  to-day?  It 
is  found  in  two  utterances  of  Jefferson,  as  timely 
to-day  as  when  uttered.  Writing  to  General  Shee, 
he  said :  "Whenever  an  appeal  to  force  shall  take 
place,  I  feel  a  perfect  confidence  that  the  energy 
and  enterprise  displayed  by  my  fellow-citizens  in 
the  pursuits  of  peace  will  be  equally  eminent  in 
those  of  war."  He  appreciated  that  a  country 
without  a  large  military  establishment  would 
make  errors  and  would  require  time  for  the  mobil- 
ization of  its  full  strength,  for  he  wrote  in  1812 
to  Duane,  "The  seeds  of  genius,  which  nature 
sows  with  even  hand  through  every  age  and 
country,  and  which  only  need  soil  and  season  to 
germinate,  will  develop  themselves  among  our 
military  men."  Reverses  came  in  that  war, 
but  the  "seeds  of  genius"  germinated  in  Mac- 
donough  in  the  decisive  victory  of  Lake  Cham- 
plain,  though  not  till  after  military  defeats  on 
land  had  left  our  capital  in  ashes.  Already  these 
seeds  have  brought  forth  fruit  in  this  way,  the 
earnest  of  the  full  fruition  when  American  genius 
shall  have  fully  mobilized  American  power  to 
throw  its  full  strength  and  win  victory  for  the 

[180] 


COLLEGES  IN  THE  NEW  CRUSADE 

very  principles  to  which  Jefferson  dedicated  his 
whole  life.  Though  never  wavering  in  his  belief 
that  war  was  the  greatest  scourge  of  mankind, 
he  saw  that  the  "ugly  and  venomous  toad"  could 
yet  "wear  a  precious  jewel  in  its  head,"  for  he 
wrote  five  years  after  its  close  to  LaFayette :  "The 
War  of  1812  has  done  us  the  further  good  of  as- 
suring the  world,  that  although  attached  to  peace 
from  a  sense  of  its  blessings,  we  will  meet  war 
when  it  is  made  necessary."  Can  we  not  see  in 
this  the  promise  that  good  will  come  to  us  out  of 
the  tragedy  of  this  war  in  that  the  lesson  will  be 
taught  for  all  time  that  the  Rule  of  Force  must 
be  resisted — and  will  be  successfully  resisted  at 
every  cost  and  every  sacrifice? 

Do  we  seek  for  the  watchword  and  rallying 
cry  that  will  stimulate  to  the  sacrifices  which  vic- 
tory may  demand  ?  We  find  it  not  only  in  the  in- 
spiring messages  and  addresses  of  President  Wil- 
son, now  everywhere  hailed  as  the  spokesman  of 
the  doctrines  Jefferson  made  immortal  in  the 
Declaration.  But  we  find  the  one  sentence  that 
lifts  us  to  the  heights  of  duty  and  gives  to  us  the 
stimulus  that  admits  of  no  divided  or  half- 
hearted allegiance.  If  you  wish  truly  to  know  the 
heart  of  a  mature  man,  to  understand  fully  his 
real  creed  and  true  belief,  you  do  not  seek  them  in 
his  public  utterances  or  studied  addresses.  He 
discloses  his  innermost  self  only  when  he  is  in 
companionship  with  boys  and  when  he  seeks  to 
give  them  a  lamp  to  their  pathway.  Volumes 

[181] 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

have  been  written  on  Jefferson's  creed — religious 
and  political — and  many  caricatures  of  his  real 
convictions  have  been  paraded  by  quotations  from 
his  voluminous  writings  and  private  letters.  But 
the  interpreters  of  his  faith  have  had  no  apprecia- 
tion of  what  Jefferson  really  believed  since  they 
have  failed  to  understand  that  no  man  ever  lived 
who  could  sit  down  and  write  out  his  creed  any 
more  than  he  can  describe  the  loves  and  hopes 
and  passions  of  his  life.  If  I  were  asked  where 
to  examine  the  writings  of  the  learned  of  all  ages 
to  emblazon  on  the  banners  under  which  millions 
of  American  youths  are  now  fighting  or  prepar- 
ing to  fight,  I  would  turn  instantly  to  Jefferson's 
letter  written  at  the  request  of  a  father  to  Jeffer- 
son's namesake,  Thomas  Jefferson  Smith.  After 
admonishing  the  young  man  to  "Adore  God ;  rev- 
erence and  cherish  your  parents,"  Jefferson  gives 
this  epigrammatic  advice  which  comes  to  us  with 
peculiar  force  and  freshness  to-day: 

"Love  your  neighbor  as  yourself,  and  love  your  coun- 
try more  than  yourself." 

In  this  sentence  there  is  all  that  patriotism 
breathes  or  teaches  or  expects  or  requires. 

We  find  in  Jefferson's  faith  in  youth  the  secret 
of  his  vision  and  his  insight  into  world  needs.  To 
the  last  his  association  was  with  young  men  and 
to  the  system  of  education  he  planned  for  Vir- 
ginia he  looked  for  worthy  achievements  from 
"youths  of  the  best  genius"  the  public  schools 


COLLEGES  IN  THE  NEW  CRUSADE 

would  discover  and  the  high  schools  and  the  uni- 
versities would  fit  for  the  highest  uses  in  the 
State.  He  would  have  applauded  the  principle  in 
the  selective  draft  which  calls  only  young  men 
to  the  colors.  "Bonaparte,"  he  wrote  to  a  friend, 
"will  conquer  the  world  if  the  European  powers 
do  not  learn  the  secret  of  composing  armies  of 
young  men  only,  whose  enthusiasm  and  health 
enable  them  to  surmount  all  obstacles."  He  would 
have  shared  the  pride  in  those  college  youths 

"Who  took  the  khaki  and  the  gun 
Instead  of  cap  and  gown" 

in  the  day  when  the  gun  represents  the  only  ef- 
fective answer  to  Germany's  demand  for  world 
domination. 

War  challenges  institutions.  One  result  which 
will  be  lasting  is  the  realization  that  college  men 
in  the  acid  test  of  war  have  made  good.  And 
there  was  need  of  a  testing  time.  There  was  a 
feeling  abroad,  held  by  many  successful  men,  that 
youths  lost  four  years'  time  by  their  college 
studies.  "To  win  success,  there  is  no  more  need 
of  Greek  than  of  Choctaw,"  solemnly  declared  a 
captain  of  industry  a  short  time  ago.  He  made 
his  mistake  because  he  did  not  know  that  Greek 
had  given  the  world  a  literature.  Laboring  men 
had  begun  to  think  the  products  of  the  college  and 
the  university  were  soft  high-brows  whose  edu- 
cation gave  them  an  aloofness  from  their  fellows 
and  imparted  no  zeal  to  promote  the  common  wel- 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

fare.  In  days  of  peace  there  was  no  effective 
answer  to  the  idea  that  college  education  was  not 
worth  what  it  cost.  In  vain  did  the  colleges  pa- 
rade the  names  of  distinguished  alumni.  The 
skeptics  replied  with  names  of  equally  useful  men 
who  had  graduated  only  in  the  College  of  Hard 
Knocks. 

To-day  debate  is  adjourned.  When  America 
entered  the  war,  the  college  campus  was  deserted 
by  men  of  the  prescribed  military  age.  In  spite 
of  the  advice  of  the  President  and  the  Secretaries 
of  War  and  Navy  to  continue  their  studies  until 
they  were  called,  undergraduates  in  their  teens  no 
longer  took  interest  in  their  books,  and  many 
hastened  to  enlist.  College  men  were  among  the 
first  to  respond,  and  their  training  demonstrated 
its  worth  in  the  readiness  with  which  they  mas- 
tered strategy  and  tactics.  Equally  quick  were 
they  to  learn  the  intricacies  of  the  machine  gun 
and  the  science  of  navigation.  They  commanded 
the  respect  of  their  fellows  and  of  the  world  not 
only  because  they  learned  rapidly,  but  also  because 
they  were  as  ready  to  march,  dig  trenches,  hurl 
grenades,  man  big  guns,  serve  on  destroyers  and 
submarines  as  to  study  text-books.  And  they  won 
the  love  of  their  comrades  and  shipmates  because 
they  did  not  regard  knowledge  of  Latin  as  enti- 
tling them  to  anything  their  skill  and  valor  did 
not  win  for  them.  Indeed,  their  fellows  soon 
found  that  knowledge  made  college  youths  hum- 
ble when  they  found  how  little  they  knew  of  the 


COLLEGES  IN  THE  NEW  CRUSADE 

art  of  war,  and  that  they  eagerly  sought  instruc- 
tion from  experienced  soldiers  and  sailors,  who, 
though  often  knowing  nothing  of  equations  and 
Greek  roots,  were  able  and  glad  to  teach  college 
graduates  how  to  shoot,  how  to  swim,  how  to 
march,  and  how  to  use  the  instruments  of  war- 
fare. In  many  a  camp  and  on  many  a  ship,  col- 
lege graduates  have  looked  with  admiration  upon 
the  skill  of  experienced  soldiers  and  sailors  as 
they  trained  their  guns  upon  enemies.  If  any  of 
them,  before  this  war  began,  thought  college  edu- 
cation gave  the  right  to  leadership,  they  soon 
learned  that  in  war  nothing  entitles  one  to  direct 
others  except  mastery  of  the  strategy  and  weap- 
ons of  war. 

If  before  this  struggle  youth,  denied  the  advan- 
tages of  college  education,  sneered  at  the  "high- 
brows," the  diligence  and  zeal  of  the  collegians 
has  changed  all  that,  and  trained  men  in  arms 
have  conceived  a  new  respect  for  culture  spelt 
with  a  "C."  Just  as  we  have  sorrowfully  learned 
that  culture  spelt  with  a  "K"  is  a  thing  abhor- 
rent, so  we  have  gladly  turned  to  real  culture 
with  a  confidence  never  felt  before.  Some 
thoughtful  man  has  defined  culture  as  something 
we  once  knew — which  became  the  warp  and  woof 
of  our  being — but  which  we  have  forgotten.  Not 
unlike  this  definition  was  the  answer  of  the  pro- 
fessor who  was  asked:  "Is  it  necessary  for  an 
educated  man  to  know  Greek  ?"  He  replied :  "No, 
but  it  is  necessary  that  he  should  have  known  it." 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

The  absorption  of  knowledge,  the  communion 
common  with  noble  souls,  the  environment  of  let- 
ters, the  inspiration  of  song  and  story,  the  study 
of  history  and  biography — it  is  these,  with  the 
atmosphere  of  grace  and  gentle  courtesy  with 
open  minds,  with  sympathy  and  love  of  one's  fel- 
lows and  devotion  to  one's  country  and  to  lofty 
ideals,  which  instinctively  set  apart  the  product 
of  culture.  Without  the  blending  of  these  charms 
and  acquirements,  there  may  be  knowledge  deep 
and  profound,  but  nothing  that  savors  of  the  cul- 
ture that  vaunteth  not  itself. 

The  world  has  learned  that,  while  some  college 
men,  upon  entering  the  military  service,  assumed 
a  role  they  could  not  act  out,  and  while  some  felt 
their  oats,  and  in  a  few  were  the  signs  of  "upish- 
ness,"  these  were  negligible  in  numbers  and  the 
vast  majority  peeled  "spuds"  and  scrubbed  decks 
with  as  much  thoroughness  as  they  dived  into  the 
mysteries  of  logistics  and  ballistics.  As  a  result, 
the  college  and  the  university  have  come  into  such 
favor  as  never  before.  The  reason  of  this  new 
popular  confidence  is  that  practical  men,  in  a  day 
when  nothing  counts  but  courage  and  efficiency, 
have  examined  the  product  of  the  college  and 
found  that  it  is  very  good.  Not  only  have  gradu- 
ates and  undergraduates  taken  to  the  grim  busi- 
ness of  war  with  the  enthusiasm  that  befits  youth, 
but  professors  and  instructors  have  set  them  an 
example  in  service  that  ennobles  our  institutions 
of  learning.  Authorized  to  speak  for  the  Navy, 

[186] 


COLLEGES  IN  THE  NEW  CRUSADE 

which  has  received  a  stream  of  splendid  college 
men  who  are  making  good,  and  privileged  to 
speak  for  the  Secretary  of  War  regarding  the 
Army,  where  many  more  have  already  demon- 
strated their  fitness,  let  me  voice  the  appreciation 
and  the  debt  of  gratitude  due  to  the  colleges  and 
universities  for  the  material  they  have  furnished, 
the  spirit  of  high  national  ideals  they  have 
strengthened,  and  the  awakening  and  shaping  of 
popular  sentiment  for  national  unity  to  which 
their  contributions  have  been  so  generous  and  so 
full. 

The  college  has  found  its  place,  the  pinnacle 
where  Jefferson's  vision  placed  the  University  of 
Virginia.  It  is  to  train  men  to  fight  in  the  battles 
of  war  as  in  the  battles  of  peace,  for  conflicts 
wage  in  both.  And  the  world  has  learned  as 
never  before  that  the  college,  the  university,  is 
no  cloistered  retreat  where  men  delve  in  musty 
volumes,  but  that  it  is  a  work-shop  where  science 
adds  to  human  happiness  in  peace  and  gives  new 
strength  to  the  national  arm  in  war.  Better  than 
all:  our  colleges  are  the  repositories  of  enthusi- 
asm, patriotism  and  zeal,  where  youths  follow 
Jefferson's  injunction,  "Love  your  country  more 
than  yourself,"  and  in  that  sign  they,  and  other 
young  Americans,  will  conquer. 


XX 


The  Kaiser  failed  only  because  he  did  not  understand 
that  the  Force  of  an  Ideal  is  stronger  than  the  Ideal  of 
Force.  It  was  this  ideal  passionately  held  to  in  the  days 
of  invasion  that  gave  the  Belgians  the  sublime  courage  to 
declare,  "This  is  a  country  and  not  a  road."  It  was 
this  ideal  that  turned  the  tide  for  liberty  at  the  Marne 
and  at  Verdun  and  at  the  Aisne.  It  is  this  holy  passion 
in  France  and  in  Great  Britain  and  in  Italy  and  the 
other  nations  that  would  not  bow  the  knee  to  Autocracy 
which  will  do  for  all  the  world  what  Jefferson's  declara- 
tion did  for  America:  establish  the  right  of  all  men  to 
govern  themselves. 

Fourth  of  July  Celebration  by  the  Tammany  Society 
of  New  York,  July  4,  1918. 

ONE  year  ago  to-day  I  had  the  pleasure  of  offi- 
cially announcing  that  all  the  units  of  the  first 
convoy  of  American  transports  had  safely  landed 
their  precious  cargoes  in  France  in  spite  of  sub- 
marine attempts  at  sinking.  The  news  cheered 
the  people  of  the  whole  country  because  the  boasts 
of  the  Germans  at  that  period,  when  the  sinking 
of  ships  by  submarines  was  at  its  height,  had 
alarmed  many  mothers  and  fathers.  When,  un- 
der the  efficient  escort  of  our  vigilant  and  valor- 

[188] 


THE  FORCE  OF  AN  IDEAL 

ous  destroyers,  the  ships  carrying  our  first  sol- 
diers of  liberty  to  return  the  call  of  LaFayette 
had  landed  these  brave  youths  in  safety,  there 
was  a  sigh  of  relief  and  a  prayer  of  thanksgiving, 
a  patriotic  Fourth  of  July  rejoicing  and  a  shout 
of  praise  for  the  men  of  the  American  Navy, 
whose  protection  gave  fresh  confidence  in  the 
ability  of  the  Navy  of  our  day  to  live  up  to  its 
best  traditions. 

So  impressed  was  Congress  and  the  country  by 
this  initial  success  of  naval  convoys  that  soon 
thereafter  Congress  voted  the  money  to  build  as 
many  destroyers  as  facilities  could  be  provided  for 
their  construction.  And  we  are  building  them  in 
large  numbers  more  rapidly  than  such  craft  were 
ever  before  completed.  The  world's  record  was 
broken  when  the  Mare  Island  Navy  Yard 
launched  the  Ward  seventeen  and  a  half  days 
after  the  keel  was  laid.  To-day  one  of  the  most 
impressive  Fourth  of  July  celebrations  will  be  the 
launching  of  fourteen  new  destroyers,  and  scores 
more  will  be  launched  and  commissioned  before 
the  end  of  summer,  with  an  increasing  number 
thereafter  until  these  best  foes  of  the  submarine, 
and  other  ships  in  cooperation  with  like  and 
other  craft  of  allied  nations,  will  free  the  world 
forever  from  the  assassins  of  the  seas,  for  Ger- 
man U-boats  are  being  sunk  faster  than  Germany 
can  build  them. 

We  are  launching  this  day  more  tonnage  than 
that  of  all  the  American  vessels  sunk  by  subma- 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

rines  since  the  war  began.  We  are  launching  to- 
day more  than  the  Germans  sank  of  the  ships  of 
all  nations  in  the  last  month  for  which  we  have 
the  official  figures. 

The  recent  enemy  submarine  activities  off  our 
coast  resulted  in  the  loss  of  25,411  gross  tons  of 
American  shipping.  During  this  same  time  130,- 
ooo  deadweight  tons  of  shipping  were  built. 

The  glee  of  the  Central  Empire  press  upon  the 
appearance  of  submarines  off  the  American  coast 
will  be  of  short  duration.  When  the  first  mer- 
chant ship  was  sunk  near  our  shores  last  month 
the  Mannheimer  General  Anzeiger  declared: 
"The  French  place  their  only  hope  for  victory  in 
America.  Our  submarines  are  delivering  a  de- 
cisive blow  to  French  hopes  in  checking  the  trans- 
portation of  American  soldiers  and  supplies." 
The  "checking"  resulted  in  carrying  a  quarter  of 
a  million  soldiers  to  France  since  the  first  sub- 
marine was  seen  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic.  The 
Austrian  press  was  equally  optimistic  of  the  new 
frightfulness,  for  the  Neues  Wiener  Tageblatt 
said:  "The  last  act  of  the  world's  tragedy  is  be- 
ginning. There  will  be  scenes  which  will  make 
the  marrow  in  Wilson's  bones  turn  cold."  The 
scene  of  even  one  passenger  ship  torpedoed,  and 
the  cruel  murdering  of  women  and  children 
gloated  over  by  this  Austrian  journal,  does  indeed 
sicken  the  heart  of  the  great  American  President. 
But,  if  that  were  possible,  it  strengthens  his  pur- 
pose and  the  high  resolve  of  the  American  people 

[190] 


THE  FORCE  OF  AN  IDEAL 

to  use  force  and  force  unreservedly  until  the  seas 
shall  be  free  from  the  submarines  that  slink  be- 
neath the  waves  after  they  have  sent  their  death- 
dealing  torpedoes  hurtling  through  the  water. 
The  submarine  will  be  a  source  of  destruction  as 
long  as  one  skulks  in  the  ocean,  but  as  a  possible 
effective  menace  in  determining  the  result  of  this 
war,  depth  bombs,  destroyers,  cruisers,  other 
ships  and  science  unite  to  insure  its  ultimate  im- 
potence as  a  decisive  factor. 

Since  last  Independence  Day  a  million  men 
have  been  transported  to  Europe.  Despite  the 
constant  threat  of  enemy  submarines,  coming  al- 
most to  our  very  shores  in  their  murderous  hate, 
not  one  American  troop-ship  bound  for  France 
has  been  sunk,  and  not  one  soldier  on  our  naval 
transports  has  been  lost.  Two  vessels  carrying 
American  troops  abroad,  the  Tuscania  and 
the  Moldavia,  have  been  torpedoed.  The 
President  Lincoln  and  the  Antilles  were  sunk 
while  returning;  the  Finland  was  torpedoed  but 
reached  port  under  her  own  steam,  was  repaired 
and  put  back  into  service.  Our  success  in  trans- 
porting a  million  men  and  millions  of  tons  of 
supplies  and  munitions  overseas  is  cause  for 
the  deepest  gratitude,  for  we  entered  upon  this 
enterprise,  in  the  words  of  the  Declaration,  "with 
a  firm  reliance  on  the  protection  of  Divine  Provi- 
dence." The  success  of  the  transport  service  has 
not  only  heartened  our  countrymen,  but  has  won 
the  admiration  of  men  in  all  lands.  Speaking  of 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

it  a  short  time  ago,  the  First  Lord  of  the  British 
Admiralty  said,  ''Judged  from  the  standpoint  of 
a  seaman,  it  is  unparalleled  in  history ;"  and,  last 
week,  Lloyd  George,  speaking  in  the  House  of 
Commons,  stated,  "It  is  an  amazing  piece  of  or- 
ganization which  has  enabled  the  bringing  of  such 
a  vast  number  of  first-rate  American  troops  to 
France."  This  "amazing  piece  of  organization" 
is  a  tribute  to  the  men  of  both  the  Army  and 
Navy,  ashore  and  afloat.  They  have  worked  as 
true  yoke-fellows.  It  is  a  matter  which  our  sons 
will  look  back  upon  with  pride  that  in  this  hour 
of  national  need  perfect  team  work  by  Army  and 
Navy  and  the  British  navy  and  our  other  allies 
made  possible  a  result  which  military  experts  a 
year  ago  deemed  beyond  achievement.  It  would 
have  been  a  tremendous  task  under  peace  condi- 
tions, but  when  we  consider  the  added  difficulties, 
the  menace  of  the  U-boats,  and  the  increased 
perils  of  navigation  in  war  times,  does  it  not  re- 
joice our  hearts  even  as  the  Colonies  were  thrilled 
by  the  peals  of  the  Liberty  Bell  ?  For  the  success- 
ful landing  of  troops  presages  the  ringing  of  lib- 
erty bells  in  lands  which  have  never  known  the 
meaning  of  liberty,  or  heard  the  music  of  bells 
pealing  out  the  glad  message  of  freedom  for  all. 
Every  wise  business  man  has  a  day  of  inven- 
tory, when  he  takes  stock,  ascertains  his  assets 
and  liabilities  and  strikes  a  balance.  This  ex- 
ample in  the  world  of  business  was  long  ago 
adopted  by  the  American  Republic  and  from  1776 

[192] 


THE  FORCE  OF  AN  IDEAL 

the  Fourth  of  July  has  been  set  apart  as  the  day 
of  inventory  of  our  national  life. 

Do  our  ideals  and  achievements  put  us  on  the 
credit  side  of  the  ledger?  Jefferson  admonished 
his  countrymen  to  'let  the  annual  return  of  this 
day  forever  refresh  our  recollection  of  the  rights 
in  the  Declaration  of  Independence  and  an  un- 
diminished  devotion  to  them."  It  is  in  the  spirit 
of  the  advice  of  the  author  of  the  Declaration 
that  we  are  gathered  here  in  this  time  of  the 
world's  trial  to  re-dedicate  ourselves  and  all  that 
we  have  and  all  that  we  are  to  the  liberty  which 
the  valor  of  the  men  of  Seventy-six  won  on  this 
new  continent. 

In  other  years,  as  we  have  assembled  on  this 
nation's  holiday,  when  no  supreme  duty  had  sum- 
moned us  to  supreme  sacrifice,  we  have  weighed 
and  measured  our  standards  and  our  ideals. 
Sometimes,  as  we  have  contrasted  them  with 
those  of  the  men  who  signed  the  Declaration,  we 
have  found  them  selfish  and  tawdry,  with  the 
verdict  "Weighed  in  the  balance  and  found  want- 
ing." Seers  and  statesmen  in  days  of  peace  have 
called  the  people  back  to  the  ancient  faith,  and 
counseled  them  to  be  guided  by  the  pillar  of  cloud 
by  day  and  the  pillar  of  fire  by  night  which  have 
led  our  country  through  the  dangers  of  division 
and  doubt  and  traffic  in  our  ideals  which  have 
jeopardized  the  Republic.  But  to-day,  conscious 
that,  in  devotion  to  a  holy  cause,  we  can  say  with 
Jefferson,  "It  is  a  heavenly  comfort  that  these 

[193] 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

principles  are  yet  strongly  felt;"  and  a  greater 
comfort  that  in  defense  of  these  principles  two 
million  American  youths  have  already  taken  up 
arms  in  the  spirit  voiced  by  Jefferson  and  guar- 
anteed to  future  generations  in  the  victories  of 
Washington.  These,  with  ten  million  more  in 
the  selective  draft  and  boys  under  age,  are  girding 
themselves  for  the  conflict. 

It  is  as  true  to-day  (perhaps  it  has  a  new  signif- 
icance) as  when  Jefferson  wrote  to  LaFayette, 
"We  are  not  to  expect  to  be  translated  from  des- 
potism to  liberty  in  a  feather  bed."  He  believed 
that  "the  disease  of  liberty  is  catching,"  and  in 
1795  he  predicted  that  "the  ball  of  liberty  is  now 
so  well  in  motion  that  it  will  roll  around  the 
globe."  We  have  lived  to  see  that  prophecy  ful- 
filled in  every  country  on  this  hemisphere  where 
every  government  is  governed  by  its  own  people 
without  king  or  kaiser  or  emperor. 

Lincoln  said  the  Republic  could  not  endure  half 
slave  and  half  free,  and  the  arbitrament  of  the 
sword  proved  the  truth  of  his  statement.  It  is 
equally  true  that  the  world  cannot  live  in  peace 
and  honor  half  autocracy  and  half  self-governing. 
There  is  an  irrevocable  conflict  between  these  the- 
ories. Autocrats  had  seen  the  doctrine  of  self- 
government  gradually  extending  its  sway,  some- 
times through  indirection,  but  they  sensed  that 
it  was  surely  undermining  government  imposed 
upon  the  people.  And  nobody  knew  this  better 
than  the  Kaiser. 

[194] 


THE  FORCE  OF  AN  IDEAL 

He  believed  the  time  was  ripe  for  either  losing 
his  unbridled  power  or  imposing  his  rule  upon 
Europe.  He  chose  conquest,  and  struck  viciously, 
quickly  and  vigorously.  He  failed  only  because 
he  did  not  understand  that  the  Force  of  an  Ideal 
is  stronger  than  the  Ideal  of  Force.  It  was  this 
ideal,  passionately  held  to  in  the  days  of  invasion, 
that  gave  the  Belgians  the  sublime  courage  to 
declare,  "This  is  a  country  and  not  a  road."  It 
was  this  ideal  that  turned  the  tide  for  liberty  at 
the  Marne  and  at  Verdun  and  at  the  Aisne.  It 
is  this  holy  passion  in  France  and  in  Great  Brit- 
ain and  in  Italy  and  the  eighteen  other  nations 
that  would  not  bow  the  knee  to  Autocracy  which 
will  do  for  all  the  world  what  Jefferson's  Declara- 
tion did  for  America:  establish  the  right  of  all 
men  to  govern  themselves. 


[195] 


XXI 

MEN  OF  THE  RED  TRIANGLE 

At  home  and  abroad,  at  the  fighting  front,  in  camps 
and  training  stations,  on  transports  and  at  naval  bases 
the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  is  stationed  to  cheer  and  aid  our  sol- 
diers and  sailors.  Its  service  is  an  inspiration,  its  work 
an  exemplification  of  practical  Christianity. 

Y.  M.  C.  A.  Meeting,  Carnegie  Hall,  New  York,  July 
8,  1918. 

WHEN  America  began  in  the  first  days  of  the 
war  to  call  its  young  men  into  cantonments  and 
training  camps  for  service  ashore  and  afloat,  the 
need  was  felt  for  mobilizing  every  organization 
and  agency  to  promote  the  happiness  and  welfare 
of  these  youths.  The  Government  early  under- 
stood and  acted  upon  the  knowledge,  that  war  is 
more  than  fighting  and  that  youths  gathered  in 
camp  must  be  both  morally  and  physically  fit  if 
they  would  win  victories  to  the  holy  cause  of 
which  they  were  the  Defenders. 

The  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  early 
recognized  its  opportunity  to  bring  forward  its 
splendid  machinery  of  action  and  its  chivalric 
spirit  of  service,  and  presented  its  facilities  as  its 
contribution  in  helping  to  win  the  war.  This  As- 
sociation of  Christian  young  men  had  been  known 


MEN  OF  THE  RED  TRIANGLE 

throughout  the  world  for  its  aggressive  helpful- 
ness wherever  there  was  opportunity  to  serve. 
Never  was  a  greater  opportunity  presented  and 
never  has  any  organization  better  met  the  chal- 
lenge that  opportunity  offered  than  in  the  ready 
and  efficient  response  this  Association  has  made 
since  April  6th,  1917.  In  these  fifteen  months  it 
has  summoned  into  service  thousands  of  men 
whose  hearts  responded  to  noblest  impulses,  and 
has  distributed  them  throughout  camps,  canton- 
ments and  naval  training  stations  in  our  land,  on 
board  transports  and  other  ships,  and  has  sent 
thousands  more  for  service  with  the  soldiers  and 
marines  who  are  fighting  the  battles  of  Democ- 
racy with  our  Allies  "Over  There."  The  people 
responded  generously  to  the  appeal  for  funds. 
The  fifty  million  dollars  which  was  asked  for 
when  the  Association's  program  for  service  was 
first  outlined,  was  subscribed  with  nearly  twenty 
million  over  the  mark.  Patriotic  citizens  and 
philanthropists  recognized  their  opportunity. 
They  made  investment  which  will  return  large 
dividends  in  the  brighter  light  that  it  has  caused 
to  shine  into  the  lives  of  soldier  and  sailor  youths. 
Soldiers  and  sailors  are  being  converted  into 
a  singing  army  and  navy.  Cromwell's  men  went 
into  battle  singing  Christian  hymns.  They  had 
no  hate  in  their  hearts,  but  were  nerved  by  the 
faith  that  they  were  fighting  for  the  principles  of 
a  holy  religion.  That  conviction  made  them  in- 
vincible. The  most  magnetic  and  compelling  song 

[197] 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

leaders  are  found  in  the  army  and  navy  camps, 
spending  themselves  with  utmost  devotion  in  a 
task  which  is  resulting  in  the  development  of  an 
enthusiasm  that  increases  cheerfulness,  courage 
and  chivalry.  And  because  we  believe,  in  Amer- 
ica, in  institutions  that  are  not  only  physical  and 
mental  and  social,  but  also  in  institutions  that  are 
spiritual  as  well,  the  Association  strives  to  meet 
the  spiritual  needs  of  our  men  who  know  they  may 
soon  be  called  upon  to  face  death  and  danger.  In 
the  huts  and  structures  where  the  Red  Triangle 
men  are  to  be  found,  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  leaders 
stand  for  a  virile  type  of  religion — a  type  that 
makes  practical  application  of  the  fundamental 
principles  of  loving  helpfulness  of  the  Man  of 
Galilee  who  counted  not  His  life  dear  unto  Him- 
self. 

Under  date  of  May  I5th  General  Pershing 
wrote  his  appreciation  to  the  secretary  in  charge 
of  the  American  Y.  M.  C.  A.  in  France,  and  ex- 
pressed the  feeling  of  many  thousands  of  officers 
and  men,  when  he  quoted  these  sentiments  which 
came  to  him  from  Col.  E.  S.  Wheeler  of  the  igth 
Field  Artillery,  and  were  incorporated  in  a  Gen- 
eral Order : 


"There  is  no  one  factor  contributing  more  to  the  morale 
of  the  American  Army  in  France  than  the  Y.  M.  C.  A. 
The  value  of  this  organization  cannot  be  overestimated. 
When  I  come  to  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  Huts  and  see  our 
men  night  after  night,  and  one  day  after  another  in  their 
spare  moments  enjoying  the  privileges  created  by  a  corps 

[198] 


MEN  OF  THE  RED  TRIANGLE 

of  self-sacrificing  Triangle  Workers,  I  know  that  they 
are  better  men  and  better  fighters  for  so  doing.  Give 
me  900  men  who  have  a  Y.  M.  C.  A.  rather  than  1000 
who  have  none  and  I  will  have  better  fighters  every 
time.  I  voluntarily  make  this  statement  because  I  am 
so  appreciative  of  what  your  efforts  mean  to  the  morale 
of  our  army." 

During  the  German  offensive,  which  for  the 
moment  halts  but  only  to  resume  at  no  distant 
date,  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  secretaries  have  nobly  done 
their  part.  Many  secretaries  during  attacks  suf- 
fered from  shell  shock  or  gas.  But  we  are  told 
that  they  kept  on  doing  their  duty  to  their  utmost. 
They  responded  enthusiastically  to  the  intensified 
labor  placed  on  them.  They  went  as  close  to  the 
front  as  was  permitted,  to  carry  creature  com- 
forts to  the  men.  Where  communication  was  in- 
terrupted, they  helped  feed  the  troops,  aid  the 
wounded  and  assist  the  chaplains.  In  the  "big 
drive"  many  volunteered  as  stretcher  bearers,  and 
worked  under  fire  fourteen  days  and  nights  with- 
out relief.  Several  have  died  from  the  effects  of 
poison  gas. 

Thirty  Association  workers  among  the  French 
troops  facing  the  German  drive  along  the  Aisne 
have  been  officially  commended  for  the  invaluable 
services  they  rendered.  They  held  their  places 
until  the  last  retirement  of  the  troops,  aiding 
wherever  it  was  possible.  "Stores  of  food" — the 
quotation  is  from  the  last  issue  of  Association 
Men,  official  publication  of  the  organization — 
"were  distributed  to  weary  poilus  whose  supplies 

[199] 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

failed  to  reach  them.  Coffee  and  soup  were  made 
and  served  until  the  building  was  shattered  by 
German  shells.  The  workers  made  their  way 
across  the  fields  swept  by  shrapnel  and  under  high 
explosive  machine  gun  fire  from  German  planes, 
carrying  all  equipment  possible.  A  new  position 
was  taken  up  with  the  troops." 

Y.  M.  C.  A.  men  have  bravely  faced  the  perils 
of  the  sea,  as  well  as  the  dangers  of  the  war  on 
land.  When  the  Oronsa,  carrying  more  than 
half  a  hundred  workers  on  their  way  to  duty  in 
the  war  zone,  was  torpedoed,  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  men 
aboard  exhibited  the  same  calm  courage  in  the 
face  of  danger  that  characterizes  our  soldiers  in 
the  trenches  and  our  sailors  on  the  sea.  Not  one 
of  the  party  was  lost  or  injured,  due  largely  to 
perfect  discipline.  They  had  held  daily  military 
and  life-boat  drills  and  were  prepared  for  any 
emergency  that  might  arise.  Every  one  was  out 
of  his  cabin  within  a  few  seconds  after  the  tor- 
pedo struck.  There  was  no  panic  or  excitement, 
and  it  was  not  only  discipline  and  courage  but  the 
American  spirit  they  manifested,  for  as  the  boats 
reached  port  the  dispatches  related  that  the  party 
was  singing.  It  must  have  inspired  those  ashore 
to  hear  the  notes  of  "The  Star  Spangled  Banner" 
and  "Onward,  Christian  Soldiers"  ringing  out 
from  these  survivors  of  the  Oronsa,  and  it  must 
have  added  to  their  experience  to  be  greeted,  as 
they  landed,  by  that  veteran  British  soldier,  Vis- 
count French,  presenting  his  congratulations  on 

[200] 


MEN  OF  THE  RED  TRIANGLE 

their  escape  and  complimenting  them  on  the  man- 
ner in  which  they  had  faced  imminent  danger. 

At  home  and  abroad,  at  the  fighting  front,  in 
camps  and  training  stations,  on  transports  and  at 
naval  bases,  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  is  stationed,  to  cheer 
and  aid  our  soldiers  and  sailors.  Its  service  is 
an  inspiration,  its  work  an  exemplification  of 
practical  Christianity. 


[201] 


XXII 

READY  FOR  ANY  DUTY  OR  DANGER 

When  our  destroyers  arrived  the  senior  officer  was 
met  by  the  Admiral  in  command  of  the  British  forces,  and 
given  welcome.  This  done,  the  English  Admiral  turned 
to  our  young  officer  and  asked,  "When  will  you  be 
ready?"  and  the  reply  was,  "We  are  ready  now."  That 
is  the  spirit  of  the  American  Navy. 

Newport,  R.  L,  Naval  Training  Station,  November  if, 
1917. 

A  FEW  weeks  ago,  it  was  my  pleasure  to  review 
a  parade  of  20,000  members  of  the  Red  Cross  who 
marched  down  Fifth  Avenue  in  the  City  of  New 
York,  all  women  dressed  in  the  uniform  of  that 
world-wide  beneficent  organization,  and  as  I  stood 
on  the  reviewing  stand  and  saw  those  noble 
women,  their  faces  consecrated  with  the  good 
work,  noble  and  unselfish,  to  which  they  had 
committed  themselves,  I  thought  it  was  the  finest 
sight  my  eyes  had  ever  rested  upon.  But,  this 
morning,  with  the  background  of  this  beautiful 
body  of  water,  gazing  into  the  faces  of  men  to 
whom  the  country  looks  with  confidence  in  this 
hour  of  its  crisis,  I  hardly  know  which  is  the 
more  beautiful  sight,  but  none  of  you  will  blame 
me  if  I  give  the  honor  to  the  girls. 

[202] 


READY  FOR  ANY  DUTY  OR  DANGER 

It  was  only  a  few  days,  it  was  in  fact  before 
America  entered  upon  this  war  and  we  had  begun 
the  study  of  world-wide  conditions  so  as  to  be 
ready  for  the  emergency,  that  the  President  of 
your  War  College,  the  distinguished  Admiral 
Sims,  was  sent  abroad  to  represent  our  Govern- 
ment in  conference  with  the  great  naval  chiefs  of 
all  the  allied  nations,  and  not  long  after  war 
was  declared  there  appeared  one  morning  in  the 
papers  a  statement  that  thrilled  America,  when 
without  previous  announcement  the  news  came 
back  that  a  company  of  our  destroyers  had  gone 
across  "over  there."  With  it  there  came  a  mes- 
sage which  voices  the  spirit,  voices  the  record, 
voices  all  that  the  history  of  our  Navy  stands  for. 
You  recall  it.  When  our  destroyers  arrived  the 
senior  officer  was  met  by  the  Admiral  in  com- 
mand of  the  British  forces,  and  given  welcome. 
This  done,  the  English  Admiral  turned  to  our 
young  officer  and  asked,  "When  will  you  be 
ready?"  and  the  reply  was,  "We  are  ready  now." 
That  is  the  spirit  of  the  American  Navy.  It  was 
supposed  that  these  young  men  would  wish  to 
wait  some  days  after  they  had  arrived  before  they 
entered  upon  their  arduous  task.  Outside  of  the 
Navy,  I  do  not  think  anybody  appreciates  the  rig- 
orous service  on  destroyers  in  the  North  Sea  and 
Channel  which  confronts  the  men  in  this  winter 
weather;  and  yet,  though  every  man  knows  the 
service  is  a  hard  one,  he  covets  it,  and  I  believe 
nearly  every  young  officer  in  the  Navy  who  knows 

[203] 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

me  personally,  and  who  thought  he  could  do  so 
without  breaking  the  regulations,  has  asked  to 
be  sent  on  a  destroyer  to  the  war  zone.  As 
I  passed  down  the  lines  to-day  and  talked  to  the 
splendid  young  men  who  are  chiefs  of  their  com- 
panies, I  asked  each  one  of  them  why  he  entered 
the  Navy,  and  what  he  wished  to  do.  The  re- 
plies heartened  me,  and  gave  me  a  new  feeling  of 
confidence,  and  a  new  thrill  of  faith  in  the  Amer- 
ican spirit,  because  nearly  every  one  said,  "I  en- 
tered the  Navy  to  serve  my  country  in  its  hour  of 
need."  Their  ambition  was  to  go  where  the 
fight  was  fiercest,  and  where  their  service  should 
count  most  in  defense  of  the  liberties  of  their 
country. 

As  you  go  into  this  service — this  service  of 
high  ideals,  this  service  which  in  all  our  history 
has  ennobled  our  country  because  officers  and  men 
have  ever  held  before  them  the  ideals  of  honor 
and  truth  and  courage — remember,  young  gentle- 
men, there  is  nothing  in  this  world  worth  any- 
thing except  character,  and  character  expresses 
itself  in  clean  living,  in  straight  life,  in  earnest 
study,  in  honest  effort,  in  willingness  during  time 
of  crisis  to  forget  self  and  remember  nothing  but 
duty,  and  it  is  for  that  service  you  have  volun- 
teered. There  is  no  man  who  has  come  into  the 
Navy  except  through  his  own  free  will.  You  have 
left  your  private  business,  all  of  you  making 
some  sacrifice  to  serve  your  country,  and  in  days 
to  come,  when  we  shall  sum  up  the  history  of 

[204] 


READY  FOR  ANY  DUTY  OR  DANGER 

these  times — these  days  of  tragedy,  such  as  the 
world  has  not  seen  before — some  historian  with  a 
vision  and  the  knowledge  of  what  naval  men  do 
will  write  the  story  of  some  achievement  in  a  de- 
cisive moment  bringing  victory  to  the  American 
arms. 

We  have  a  great  contempt  for  the  slacker.  In 
this  hour,  the  young  man  in  America  who  is  phys- 
ically fit  and  does  not  don  a  uniform  has  no  place 
in  the  esteem  or  the  affection  or  respect  of  Amer- 
ica. What  shall  I  say,  however,  of  the  young  man 
in  the  Navy  who  when  his  country  needs  him  and 
trusts  him,  shall,  by  a  lapse  of  morals,  disqualify 
himself  for  trn  high  performance  upon  which  his 
country  restc,  and  in  a  crucial  moment  perhaps 
lose  a  battle  because  he  has  permitted  his  appe- 
tites and  passions  to  weaken  his  moral  stamina? 
We  hear  much  talk  of  the  "morale"  of  the  serv- 
ice but  we  have  never  understood  how  to  spell  the 
word.  I  tell  you  there  is  but  one  morale  of  the 
service  and  that  is  "Morals."  There  can  be  no 
high  morale  in  any  service  whose  officers  and  men 
do  not  lead  clean  lives  and  do  not  put  upon  them- 
selves the  self-restraint  to  walk  straight,  go  into 
no  place,  and  indulge  in  no  habits,  that  when  they 
returned  to  their  homes,  would  make  them  fear  to 
look  their  mothers  straight  in  the  eye. 

Two  years  ago,  Lloyd  George  startled  the 
Parliament  of  Great  Britain  when  he  said:  "In 
this  war  England  has  two  enemies,  Germany  and 
the  Drink  Evil,  and  of  the  two  the  more  danger- 

[205] 


THE  NAVY  AND  T.HE  NATION 

ous  is  the  Drink  Evil."  He  spoke  a  parable, 
young  gentlemen,  and  our  Congress,  recognizing 
this,  for  the  first  time  in  history  has  put  a  ban 
upon  it  and  I  call  upon  the  people  of  this  city  and 
every  city  in  America  which  has  the  proud  privi- 
lege of  extending  hospitality  to  the  hope  of  the 
nation  to  give  them  clean  environment;  and  if 
they  fail  to  do  that,  then  I  say  they  are  recreant 
to  the  highest  duty  of  hospitality  and  patriotism. 
In  this  Training  Station  you  are  being  taught 
the  lessons  necessary  for  victory.  There  is  noth- 
ing in  life  worth  while  that  comes  easily.  You 
must  earn  it  yourself.  That  is  the  eternal  truth. 
A  man  of  wealth  may  give  his  son  money  or  op- 
portunities, but  unless  he  has  the  stuff  in  him, 
he  cannot  hold  his  place.  In  the  Navy,  discipline 
is  necessary  to  secure  results,  and  the  wise  young 
man  is  he  who  puts  restraint  upon  himself,  who 
obeys  orders  promptly  and  who  knows  that  if 
he  ever  hopes  to  rise  to  give  orders,  he  must  him- 
self have  rendered  ready  obedience  in  all  emer- 
gencies. 

REAL  "STUFF"  AND  "PEP"  WILL  "WIN" 
Naval  Training  Station,  Hampton  Roads,   Va.,  July 

20, 


IT  was  a  dream  that  we  should  create  at  Hamp- 
ton Roads,  which  the  Almighty  has  made  the  ideal 
place,  the  greatest  Naval  Base  in  the  world.  That 
dream  is  being  realized,  and  you  are  the  first 
fruits  of  this  station,  where  we  shall  frame  into 

[206] 


READY  FOR  ANY  DUTY  OR  DANGER 

sailors  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  of  young 
men  who  will,  by  their  courage  and  their  fitness 
and  their  stuff  (I  like  the  word  "stuff,"  boys; 
it  may  not  be  the  best  word  in  the  diction- 
ary, but  the  two  best  words  to  characterize  a  boy 
is  that  he  has  stuff  and  pep).  It  is  by  your  fit- 
ness and  stuff  we  will  win  the  war.  The  reason 
to-day  that  your  brothers  who  are  fighting  in 
France  are  driving  back  the  legions  of  the  Kaiser 
is  because  when  they  left  home  in  America,  they 
had  the  pep  to  swear  they  would  do  it  or  die, 
and  the  reason  that  the  submarine  menace,  al- 
ways a  menace,  as  long  as  that  shark  of  the  sea 
skulks  beneath  the  waves — the  reason  that  men- 
ace has  been  reduced,  and  will  continue  to  be  re- 
duced as  fast  as  you  boys  get  over  there,  is 
because  American  boys  have  got  the  stuff  to 
drive  the  Huns  under  the  water,  and  keep  them 
there. 

The  other  night  I  was  on  a  train  coming  down 
from  Albany,  and  a  couple  of  young  sailors  from 
a  certain  battleship,  fine  looking  chaps  they  were 
— almost  as  good  looking  as  you  boys,  but  not 
quite — they  came  to  me  in  the  Pullman,  recog- 
nized me  from  my  own  good  looks  in  the  papers, 
and  said :  "We  wish  to  apologize  for  making  this 
request,  but  we  are  so  crazy  to  go  over  and  get 
the  Kaiser  that  we  want  to  ask  you  to  order  the 
ship  we  are  on  to  go  across,"  and  I  told  them  I 
would  do  it.  The  ship  they  are  on  has  been  sent 
across;  and  when  the  hour  comes  for  the  great 

[207] 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

battle  of  dreadnaughts,  which  will  probably  be 
the  decisive  battle  of  this  war  and  make  forever 
impossible  the  ravages  of  the  shark,  otherwise 
submarine, — these  chaps  on  this  ship,  and  other 
young  men  of  courage  and  stuff  and  pep,  will  win 
a  victory  for  the  principles  that  have  caused  you 
to  enlist  and  will  win  for  you  a  high  place  in  the 
pages  of  American  naval  history. 

You  know,  this  Navy  you  belong  to  is  the  great- 
est institution  in  the  world,  and  has  in  its  ranks 
to-day  over  four  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  men 
— the  very  flower  of  America.  That  is  you; 
don't  be  modest  about  it.  If  any  one  tells  you  the 
young  men  of  the  Navy  are  the  finest  fellows  in 
the  world,  blush  a  little,  but  speak  right  up  and 
say:  "We  know  it."  And  why  do  you  know  it? 
Because  your  brothers  are  across  winning  world- 
wide praise,  and  you  will  soon  join  them  in  end- 
ing the  submarine  menace.  We  are  building  ships 
as  fast  as  facilities  will  permit,  so  that  you  can  go 
over  and  take  part  in  a  struggle  in  which  no  man 
can  engage  unless  in  his  heart  he  has  the  spirit 
of  liberty  and  whose  spirit  gives  him  courage  and 
strength. 

Sometimes  you  see  a  man  in  the  war  who 
when  he  starts  into  battle  is  a  little  nervous, 
and  some  people  doubt  his  courage.  I  do  not  sup- 
pose that  any  man  ever  went  into  battle  who  was 
not  nervous.  I  never  try  to  make  a  speech  that  I 
do  not  get  nervous.  That  being  true  about  a  small 
thing  like  a  speech,  I  know  if  I  went  into  battle, 

[208] 


READY  FOR  ANY  DUTY  OR  DANGER 

and  you  had  to  go,  we  would  all  be  under  a  tension 
and  strain ;  but  we  would  all  be  like  that  French 
general  at  the  battle  of  the  Marne.  When  the 
French  repelled  the  oncoming  horde  of  the  Huns 
and  the  order  came  to  advance,  he  shook  all  over 
like  a  leaf  and  that  mortified  him  and  humiliated 
him,  because  he  knew  men  about  him  would  say  he 
was  not  brave,  and  he  knew  he  was  brave.  So  he 
pointed  to  his  body  and  said :  "You  old  carcass, 
what  do  you  mean  by  disgracing  me  by  shaking 
like  this?"  Then  he  paused  and  added:  "If  you 
knew  where  I  am  going  to  take  you  to-day  you 
would  shake  more  than  you  do  now ;"  and  he  car- 
ried that  old  carcass  into  the  fight,  and  when 
night  came  the  Germans  had  retreated. 

It  is  a  great  honor,  and  a  privilege,  to  be  the 
father  of  four  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  boys 
and  they  are  some  boys.  There  never  was  a 
time  in  our  history  when  the  Navy  was  so  safely 
anchored  in  the  affection  and  confidence  of  the 
American  people,  and  it  is  because  that  back  home 
where  you  came  from,  and  the  other  boys  like  you 
came  from,  the  people  know  that  you  have  come 
into  this  service,  putting  aside  many  of  your  am- 
bitions, some  of  you  leaving  your  sweethearts 
with  great  regret — but  they  will  wait  for  you,  and 
when  you  come  back  you  will  come  back  as  heroes 
and  they  will  welcome  you  with  honor  and  love. 
And  while  you  are  gone,  be  true  to  them.  Mind 
you,  while  you  fight  remember  you  are  fighting 
for  home  and  for  the  kind  of  government  that 

[209] 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

made  our  fathers  and  our  mothers  what  they  are. 
Whether  you  are  in  Hampton  Roads,  or  on  ships, 
or  in  France  or  Great  Britain,  I  counsel  you  boys 
not  to  do  anything  that  you  could  not  go  back 
home  and  look  your  mother  in  the  eye  and  tell  her 
you  had  done.  You  cannot  win  this  war,  no  na- 
tion can  win  it  unless  they  can  shoot  straight; 
and  men  cannot  shoot  straight  unless  they  live 
straight ;  so  that  I  adjure  you  as  a  father  and  as 
a  brother,  not  only  to  develop  the  ability  to  per- 
form every  duty  with  every  ounce  of  power  you 
have,  but  also  to  keep  your  bodies  clean  and  your 
souls  pure,  so  that  when  you  celebrate  victory — 
and  you  are  going  to  celebrate  it — you  may  come 
back  home  clean. 

I  see  some  men,  but  very  few  of  them  now,  who 
have  long  faces  and  are  very  much  afraid  that 
American  pep  will  not  win,  but  they  are  all  men 
who  are  not  righting.  Was  there  ever  a  man  in 
the  Navy  who  doubted  we  would  lick  the  Hun? 
When  I  see  a  few  of  these  pessimists  on  land 
who  do  not  put  their  lives  in  jeopardy  by  offer- 
ing the  most  precious  thing  a  man  can  give  to 
his  country,  I  tell  them  just  to  look  at  the  Navy 
boys,  who  not  only  know  that  our  cause  is  just, 
but  know  that  they  have  the  stuff  to  "put  it  over." 

I  want  you  boys,  all  of  you,  to  be  full  of  ambi- 
tion and  aspire  to  do  the  best  you  can,  knowing 
that  in  the  American  Navy  it  is  the  policy  and 
purpose  and  resolve,  as  nearly  as  possible,  to  pro- 
mote every  man  who  shows  the  fitness  and  abil- 

[210] 


READY  FOR  ANY  DUTY  OR  DANGER 

ity,  to  higher  rank.  I  have  had  the  privilege  in 
recent  months  to  promote  to  commissioned  rank 
more  than  fifteen  hundred  men  from  seamen,  and 
I  expect  to  commission  thousands  more  during  the 
next  six  months. 

You  boys  can  secure  advancement  in  only  one 
way,  and  that  is  by  mastering  the  details  that  are 
given  to  you  every  day. 

I  heard  some  time  ago  of  a  fellow  who  entered 
the  Navy;  he  was  a  graduate  of  a  big  college. 
Some  one  took  a  picture  of  him  peeling  potatoes 
(I  believe  we  boys  call  them  spuds),  and  when  he 
saw  the  picture  he  said:  "Gee!  I  hope  my  girl 
don't  see  this;  she  thinks  I  am  off  sinking  sub- 
marines.'* 

The  father  of  a  veiy  able  young  fellow,  who 
had  graduated  from  one  of  our  highest  insti- 
tutions of  learning,  came  to  me  and  complained 
that  his  son,  a  graduate  of  a  college,  was  on  a 
little  submarine  chaser  peeling  potatoes,  and  he 
ought  to  be  doing  something  better.  I  said:  "I 
hope  your  son  is  peeling  them  well."  Education 
is  not  worth  anything  to  a  man  unless  it  teaches 
him  to  do  whatever  he  is  called  upon  to  do,  better 
than  a  man  who  had  not  had  training ;  so  with  all 
the  knowledge  you  have,  whatever  duty  is  placed 
upon  you,  even  if  it  is  peeling  spuds,  see  that  you 
do  it  better  than  the  other  fellow.  Get  the  most 
out  of  a  potato;  some  fellows  when  peeling  po- 
tatoes leave  very  little  of  the  potato.  Mr.  Hoover 
wouldn't  like  that.  Whatever  you  are  called  upon 

[2!  I] 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

to  do  in  this  war  is  honorable  and  useful,  and  you 
cannot  be  called  to  a  place  of  responsibility  until 
you  have  mastered  what  is  called  the  small  things ; 
but  there  isn't  anything  small  in  this  war.  The 
man  who  learns  the  signals  on  the  ship,  and  who 
learns  wigwagging  (boys,  it's  pretty  hard  to 
learn,  too),  is  doing  a  great  stunt.  It  may  win 
the  decisive  battle.  It  looks  very  easy  when  you 
see  a  fellow  signaling,  but  it  means  that  a  mis- 
take there  might  mean  the  loss  of  the  fleet,  so  that 
the  smallest  thing  may  become  the  largest  thing. 
I  counsel  you  to  do  what  you  think  is  the  smallest 
thing  just  as  conscientiously  as  Admiral  Benson 
here  performs  all  his  duties  to  the  best  of  his  abil- 
ity. 

There  isn't  any  organization  in  the  world  where 
team  work  is  as  essential  as  in  the  Navy.  I  don't 
care  how  great  the  Admiral  is,  if  the  wigwagger 
fails  to  do  his  work  well,  the  Admiral  fails ;  and 
from  the  Admiral  down,  like  baseball,  there  must 
be  team  work.  You  boys  know  a  pitcher  cannot 
win  a  game  if  the  outfielder  muffs  the  ball.  So 
in  the  Navy,  it  is  team  work.  You  may  learn  to 
do  your  job  a  little  better  and  then  get  a  big  job ; 
for  the  best  man  and  the  fittest  man  in  the  world 
is  the  man  who  takes  orders  and  "goes  to  it." 

I  am  glad  to  see  you  boys,  and  I  shall  go  back 
to  Washington  with  a  new  inspiration  and  a  new 
faith  and  renewed  confidence  that  America  in  our 
day  is  of  the  same  stuff  that  it  was  in  the  days  of 
John  Paul  Jones  and  Paul  Revere.  I  wish  you 

[212] 


READY  FOR  ANY  DUTY  OR  DANGER 

to  know  always  that  in  Washington  in  the  Navy 
Department  those  of  us  committed  to  responsible 
duties  have  you  in  our  hearts,  and  have  such  con- 
fidence in  you  that  we  would  send  any  one  of  you 
on  a  submarine  chaser  up  to  Berlin  to  scalp  the 
Hun  and  know  you  would  do  it  by  yourself. 

All  I  have  to  say  in  conclusion  is  that  it  is  a 
very  great  privilege  to  serve  with  you.  I  never 
place  myself  in  any  capacity  except  shoulder  to 
shoulder  and  elbow  to  elbow  with  the  young  men 
in  the  Navy,  and  I  refuse  to  be  counted  with  these 
old  fellows.  We  look  to  them  for  advice  and  wis- 
dom and  counsel,  but  we  boys  have  got  to  win  the 
war,  and  we  are  going  to  do  it. 


[213] 


XXIII 

OUR  SOUTH  AMERICAN  SHIPMATES 

These  two  mighty  dreadnaughts,  though  heavily  ar- 
mored and  carrying  big  guns,  which  come  on  this  mission 
of  good  will,  are  the  fitting  symbol  of  the  strength  of  a 
common  ideal  of  Pan-American  solidarity  which,  with 
God's  help,  will  never  be  used  but  for  our  common  de- 
fense in  upholding  the  cause  of  humanity  and  justice. 

Dinner  in  honor  of  the  Officers  of  the  Argentine  bat- 
tleship "Rivadavia"  and  the  Brazilian  battleship  "Sao 
Paulo,"  New  York,  August  21,  1918. 

A  FEW  months  ago  a  squadron  of  the  United 
States  Navy  paid  a  visit  to  two  republics  which 
we  regard  as  near  neighbors  and  friends.  When 
Admiral  Caperton's  fleet  reached  the  Republics 
of  Brazil  and  Argentina,  the  officers  and  men  re- 
ceived the  most  wonderful  and  cordial  reception 
that  our  Navy  has  received  from  any  countries  in 
all  its  history.  And  they  came  back  to  their  own 
country,  every  one  of  them,  filled  with  a  spirit  of 
brotherhood,  and  now  that  we  are  honored  by  a 
visit  from  the  navies  of  those  two  republics,  we 
wish  them  to  know  that,  though  plunged  in  the 
midst  of  a  war  that  demands  all  our  thought,  we 
hold  them  in  such  regard  and  so  highly  appreciate 
the  honor  they  have  done  us,  that  we  put  aside  for 


OUR  SOUTH  AMERICAN  SHIPMATES 

the  time  the  engrossing  duties  imposed  by  war, 
to  gather  here  to-night  to  extend  to  them  from  the 
Government  of  America  our  warm  welcome,  re- 
gretting that  we  can  but  feebly  show  the  warmth 
of  our  regard  and  hospitality.  We  extend  for 
the  whole  country  to  the  commanders  of  two  of 
the  most  powerful  dreadnaughts  that  have  sailed 
the  seas,  to  all  the  trained  officers  and  splendid 
seamen,  our  cordial  greeting  and  hearty  welcome. 
These  dreadnaughts  come  on  a  mission  of  friend- 
ship. Though  they  are  heavily  armored  and  have 
powerful  guns,  neither  the  Republic  of  Brazil,  nor 
Argentina  nor  the  Republic  of  the  United  States 
of  America  ever  armed  their  ships  with  any 
thought  that  any  one  of  them  will  visit  one  an- 
other's country  except  in  love  and  amity  and  mu- 
tual helpfulness. 

To  the  officers  of  these  dreadnaughts  and  to 
the  fine  sailors  who  man  them,  I  wish,  as  Secre- 
tary of  the  Navy,  to  tender  the  nation's  welcome. 
It  is  with  a  feeling  of  special  satisfaction  that  I 
have  the  honor  of  meeting  and  welcoming  the 
naval  representatives  of  our  two  great  sister  re- 
publics of  South  America.  This  feeling  springs 
primarily  from  the  thought  that  in  the  midst  of 
this  world-wide  nightmare  of  war  we  of  the  west- 
ern hemisphere  stand  firmly  united  as  friends. 
Our  friendship  is  not  a  result  of  courtesy  or  of 
pretense — it  springs  neither  from  fear  nor  inter- 
est. These  two  mighty  dreadnaughts  which  come 
on  this  mission  of  good  will  are  the  fitting  sym- 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

bols  of  the  strength  of  a  common  ideal  of  Pan- 
American  solidarity  which,  with  God's  help,  will 
never  be  used  but  for  our  common  defense  in  up- 
holding the  cause  of  humanity  and  justice.  We 
greet  our  naval  visitors  as  "shipmates."  There 
is  no  relation  in  life  so  intimate,  so  cordial,  so 
sympathetic  as  that  which  exists  between  ship- 
mates. I  remember  some  time  ago  meeting  an 
Admiral,  now  on  the  retired  list,  and  chatting 
with  him  on  the  train.  I  spoke  of  having  met, 
the  day  before,  a  clear-headed  boatswain  in  the 
navy,  a  man  who  had  served  for  forty  years,  a 
splendid  type  of  the  American  sailor  capable 
enough  to  hold  the  rank  of  Captain,  and  I  asked 
the  Admiral,  "Do  you  know  Bo'sun  Hill?"  He 
answered,  "Why,  of  course  I  do.  I  know  him 
well,  we  were  shipmates" — and  in  that  word 
"shipmate"  goes  a  something  of  intimacy  and 
sympathy  and  comradeship  that  you  do  not  find 
anywhere  in  any  other  relationship  in  life. 

Those  of  you  who  are  not  in  the  navy — and  I 
am  sorry  for  you — ;  you  would  all  be  in  if  you  had 
been  lucky  enough ;  most  of  you  are  trying  to  get 
into  this  noble  service.  In  these  days  we  have  a 
hard  time  because  of  the  onrush,  to  keep  men  out 
of  the  navy.  Those  of  you  who  are  not  in  the 
navy  may  have  some  faint  understanding  of  what 
"shipmate"  means  if  you  will  reflect  upon  some 
long  voyage  you  have  taken  as  passenger  on  a 
ship.  You  will  remember  that  on  this  voyage  you 
unbosomed  your  soul  to  some  new  acquaintance 


OUR  SOUTH  AMERICAN  SHIPMATES 

and  told  him,  without  ever  intending  to  do  it, 
the  secrets  of  your  life,  which  you  never  would 
have  told  to  any  man  on  land.  There  is  some- 
thing about  the  sea  that  encourages  confidences 
and  intimacies.  The  common  dangers,  the  com- 
mon perils,  the  common  love  of  the  sea  ties  men 
together ;  and  that  is  true  particularly  and  pecu- 
liarly of  the  navies  of  our  country  and  of  Brazil 
and  of  Argentina.  These  three  countries  of  wide 
expanse  have  in  common  the  large  vision  and  com- 
mon aim  which  unite  us  in  a  common  destiny.  In 
our  broad  domains  with  large  expanse  of  terri- 
tory, where  men  can  live  and  work  in  the  open, 
the  people  of  the  New  World  were  free  to  work 
out  the  processes  of  government  unhampered  by 
tradition  and  uninfluenced  by  the  ambitions  and 
fears  of  near  neighbors. 

Some  days  ago  there  was  printed  in  one  of  our 
papers  a  brief  composition  written  by  a  French 
girl.  It  ran  something  like  this : 

"It  was  only  a  little  river — not  much  larger  than  a 
brook.  It  was  called  the  Yser.  It  was  so  small  that 
you  could  talk  from  bank  to  bank  without  raising  your 
voice.  The  swallows  could  fly  across  with  one  sweep 
of  their  wings.  On  those  banks  millions  of  men  were 
standing — eye  to  eye,  but  the  distance  that  separated 
them  was  as  great  as  the  distance  that  separates  the 
stars;  the  difference  between  right  and  injustice. 

"The  Atlantic  Ocean  is  a  vast  body  of  water,  so  great 
that  the  sea  gulls  dare  not  fly  across.  It  takes  the  great 
American  liners  7  days  and  7  nights  going  at  full  speed 
before  they  sight  the  lighthouses  of  France — but,  from 
shore  to  shore,  hearts  are  touching." 

[217] 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

In  mutual  sacrifice  America  and  Europe  are 
forging  chains  of  friendship  that  can  never  be 
broken.  But  it  did  not  require  the  sacrifice  of  war 
and  the  comradeship  of  the  trenches  and  the  perils 
on  the  sea,  though  separated  by  miles,  to  make 
the  friendship  between  our  country  and  yours,  sir, 
and  yours  (addressing  the  Ambassadors  and  offi- 
cers from  Brazil  and  Argentina),  such  that  our 
hearts  touched;  they  have  always  touched  since 
the  Monroe  Doctrine  kindled  it  into  lasting  love. 
No  nation  is  untouched  by  the  nightmare  of  war 
that  has  fallen  upon  the  world,  whether  it  be  a  bel- 
ligerent nation  pouring  its  blood  and  treasure  into 
the  cause,  or  whether  it  be  a  neutral  nation  seek- 
ing its  rights  in  a  war  full  of  peril,  to  neutrals. 
When  this  war  shall  end — and  it  will  not  end  until 
liberty  prevails  in  all  the  world — when  this  war 
shall  end,  we  shall  have  a  new  heaven  and  a  new 
earth.  Old  conditions  have  passed  away,  and  the 
new  problems  that  come  to  us  will  demand  the 
wisdom,  the  unity  and  the  solidarity  of  all  the 
Americas  to  settle  them  wisely  for  ourselves  and 
for  the  world. 

Too  long  our  country  has  defied  the  Biblical  in- 
junction which  says  a  man  shall  not  live  unto  him- 
self. It  is  as  true  of  nations  as  of  individuals. 
No  nation  can  live  unto  itself.  The  ancients 
taught  that  oceans  and  seas  were  made  to  sepa- 
rate nations.  We  have  learned  that  they  bring 
together  into  intimacy  people  of  varying  tongues 
and  varied  interests.  We  have  thought  in  this 


OUR  SOUTH  AMERICAN  SHIPMATES 

country  that  if  the  United  States  prospered  with- 
in its  own  borders  all  was  well.  We  have  closed 
our  ears  so  that  we  have  not  heard  the  call  that 
told  us  that  our  duty  did  not  end  with  the  shore 
line,  and  we  have  lacked  the  vision  in  these  latter 
days  which  Monroe  had,  a  vision  which  saved 
this  whole  hemisphere  to  republican  government. 
For  fifty  years  we  had  forgotten  how  to  build 
ships,  though  in  our  early  days  this  was  a  ship- 
building nation  and  we  won  our  first  wealth  and 
primacy  on  the  sea.  For  almost  half  a  century 
shipbuilding  has  been  a  craft  and  not  a  trade.  The 
natural  result  has  been  that  the  United  States  of 
America  has  failed  in  its  duty  of  sending  ships 
and  ships  and  more  ships  to  our  South  American 
Republics,  where  we  could,  with  them,  enlarge 
American  commerce  and  bless  ourselves  and  our 
neighbors.  It  required  the  stress  of  war  for  us 
to  begin  ship  construction,  but  having  begun  it, 
we  will  never  stop  it  until  the  American  Republics 
have  enough  ships  to  ply  between  this  and  every 
port  of  every  part  of  America  from  Greenland 
to  the  Straits  of  Magellan. 

This  gathering  and  its  better  understanding 
heartens  those  of  us  who  have  long  wished  to  see 
closer  commercial  and  friendly  intercourse  be- 
tween our  Republic  and  all  the  Republics  of 
America.  First  of  all,  we  rejoice  that  our  navies 
are  getting  closer  together.  That  must  be  the 
beginning  of  a  great  merchant  marine,  for  no  na- 
tion not  bent  on  conquest  ever  had  a  great  navy 

[219] 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

unless  it  had  a  great  merchant  marine.  They  go 
together.  And  we  are  constructing  a  strong  navy 
and  the  work  will  go  on  until  we  have  the  great- 
est navy  in  the  world,  which  will  strengthen  the 
hands  of  our  republic  and  your  republics — a  navy 
that,  joined  with  the  navies  of  our  sister  repub- 
lics, will  sail  the  free  seas,  free  forever,  with  no 
hindrance  from  submarines  or  mines,  and  bring 
about  those  ties  of  fraternity  and  of  commerce 
and  trade  which  shall  develop  your  resources  and 
our  resources,  and  give  to  the  Americas  the  place 
the  early  discoverers  dreamed  of  and  planned  on 
a  large  scale.  I  regard  the  coming  of  these  ships 
and  of  these  splendid  officers  and  men  as  a  symbol 
of  the  solidarity  of  the  power  of  Pan-American- 
ism, as  an  omen  that  the  day  is  dawning  when  all 
the  republics  of  America  will  realize  the  ideal  of 
a  bond  of  common  union,  of  "all  for  one  and 
one  for  all." 


[220] 


XXIV 

LOYALTY  OF  LABOR 

It  is  well  known  that,  of  all  men,  Peace  is  dearest  to 
those  who  earn  their  bread  in  the  sweat  of  their  face. 
Before  liberty  was  imperiled  by  Prussian  Junkerism 
every  labor  organization  was  a  Peace  Society,  but  every 
one  was  a  Peace  Society  based  upon  the  paradox  of  Buck 
Fanshaw:  "We  will  have  peace  if  we  have  to  fight  for 
it."  And  they  are  fighting  now  to  end  war  in  their  day 
and  for  all  time. 

Labor  Day,  Indianapolis,  Ind.,  Sept.  2,  1918. 

IN  the  crucial  days  through  which  we  are  pass- 
ing, American  patriotism  and  confidence  in  vic- 
tory rest,  next  to  confidence  in  the  valor  of  our 
fighting  forces,  upon  the  knowledge  that  Ameri- 
can toilers  are  loyal  to  the  core.  I  say  knowl- 
edge, for  wherein  we  must  needs  have  exercised 
faith  sixteen  months  ago,  at  this  hour  we  stand 
upon  the  sure  foundation  of  works  that  have  jus- 
tified our  faith.  The  full  and  complete  enlist- 
ment of  Labor  in  this  country  has  not  only  heart- 
ened America,  but  it  has  as  well  cheered  and 
strengthened  the  heroic  men  fighting  for  liberty 
across  the  sea.  The  magnificent  reception  of 
Samuel  Gompers  in  Great  Britain,  hailed  there 
as  the  labor  apostle  of  the  doctrine  "Win  the 

[221] 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

War,"  shows  that  labor  loyalty  here  has  stimu- 
lated the  spirit  of  fighting  to  victory  in  all  allied 
countries.  The  full  consecration  of  men  of  toil  in 
our  country  has  been  demonstrated  in  their  doff- 
ing overalls  and  donning  the  military  uniforms; 
in  their  increase  in  production  in  field  and  fac- 
tory of  everything  needed  for  the  maintenance  of 
army,  navy  and  civilian  population;  in  their  ro- 
bust patriotism  applied  in  building  ships  in  the 
coldest  winter  ever  known  at  a  speed  without  par- 
allel; in  the  rapid  production  of  munitions  and 
all  war  material ;  and  in  their  eagerness  to  prose- 
cute the  war  by  investing  their  earnings  in  Liberty 
bonds,  and  in  all  causes  that  contributed  to  war 
needs.  But  we  owe  more  to  the  spirit  of  whole- 
hearted devotion  to  this  free  land  and  its  free 
institutions  by  organized  labor,  to  which  we  owe 
this  Labor  Day  holiday,  than  to  any  and  all  con- 
tributions of  skill  and  savings.  It  is  well  known 
that,  of  all  men,  Peace  is  dearest  to  those  who 
earn  their  bread  in  the  sweat  of  their  face.  Be- 
fore liberty  was  imperiled  by  Prussian  Junker- 
ism  every  labor  organization  was  a  Peace  Society, 
but  every  one  was  a  Peace  Society  based  upon  the 
paradox  of  Buck  Fanshaw:  "We 'will  have  peace 
if  we  have  to  fight  for  it."  And  they  are  fighting 
now  to  end  war  in  their  day  and  for  all  time. 

When  war  came  there  were  people  across  the 
seas,  and  some  people  with  no  real  knowledge  of 
the  American  men  in  factories,  who  asked :  "Will 
labor  in  America  meet  the  test?  Will  it  be 

[222] 


LOYALTY  OF  LABOR 

ready  to  make  the  supreme  sacrifice?"  Nobody 
has  asked  that  question  since  organized  labor 
under  the  leadership  of  William  B.  Wilson  and 
Samuel  Gompers  voiced  the  Americanism  of  the 
unions,  and  expressed  as  well  the  loyalty  of  Labor 
without  as  well  as  within  the  organizations.  The 
answer  is  written  in  deeds  that  none  may  ques- 
tion. 

The  world  after  peace  shall  have  been  won  will 
not  go  back  to  conditions  such  as  existed  prior  to 
our  entrance  into  the  mighty  struggle.  The  peo- 
ple will  take  on  new  dignity.  What  labor  earns 
will  find  its  way  into  the  pockets  of  labor.  New 
conditions  will  impose  new  duties.  Statesman- 
ship of  vision  will  create  new  opportunities  for 
American  commerce  and  guarantee  to  labor  the 
bread  it  has  earned.  Political  shibboleths  that 
men  heeded  in  1916  are  as  dead  as  the  mummies 
of  Egypt,  and  public  men  who  try  to  galvanize 
them  will  be  interred  in  the  catacombs  that  lie 
adjacent  to  Salt  River.  This  war  is  fundamental. 
Its  effect  will  be  to  change  everything.  Trade 
and  commerce  and  finance  will  seek  new  and 
broader  fields  and  men  seek  nobler  standards. 
The  large  returns  from  farm  and  factory  will  not 
go  to  the  few,  but  will  be  apportioned  to  men  of 
brain  and  brawn  in  proportion  to  the  value  of 
their  contribution.  There  will  be  a  more  equita- 
ble division  between  capital  and  labor.  But  no 
riotous  Bolshevikism,  no  failure  to  protect  alike 
property  and  labor,  no  class  domination  that  lends 

[223] 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

itself  to  injustice  or  wrong  can  flourish  on  this 
continent.  Justice  presides  over  both  the  rights 
of  man  and  his  rights  of  property.  There  will  be 
no  place  in  this  new  world  for  the  leadership 
either  of  timid  men  or  those  who  grasp  at  the 
shadows  of  issues  which  the  war  has  relegated  to 
the  scrap  heap.  The  man  who  prates  of  doctrines 
good  in  an  isolated  country  will  have  empty 
benches  for  an  audience.  During  the  war  we 
have  not  hesitated  at  any  action,  however  radical 
it  was  regarded  by  conservatives  in  other  times, 
that  would  help  to  win  the  war.  We  have  em- 
ployed weapons  both  ancient  and  modern.  Some 
of  our  men  are  wearing  coats. of  mail,  others  are 
mounting  the  heavens.  The  javelin  of  the  cave- 
dweller  has  its  place  with  the  latest  concoction  of 
poisonous  gas.  Even  so,  in  the  new  time  now 
shortly  at  hand,  our  real  leaders  will  be  those 
who  will  not  reject  a  method  or  a  principle  be- 
cause it  is  old  or  embrace  it  because  it  is  new.  We 
will  prove  all  things  in  order  that  we  may  hold 
fast  only  to  that  which  is  good  for  an  heritage  to 
be  handed  down  by  the  generation  that  stood  in 
its  lot  in  these  days  and  saved  the  civilized  world. 
Already  the  demands  of  national  necessity  have 
required  the  Government  to  take  over  the  opera- 
tion of  the  railroads,  the  telegraph,  the  telephones 
and  the  canals.  We  have  abandoned  for  the  war 
voluntary  service  and  mobilized  the  whole  country 
to  one  end  and  occupation.  We  have  told  men 
what  they  sha.ll  eat  and  what  they  shall  wear  and 

[224] 


LOYALTY  OF  LABOR 

when  and  how  much  they  shall  ride.  We  have 
made  transportation  on  land  and  sea  a  virtual 
monopoly.  We  have  put  aside  our  century-old 
fear  of  entangling  alliances  with  European  na- 
tions. We  have  had  but  one  principle  since  the 
President  in  the  halls  of  Congress  gave  expres- 
sion to  the  national  conviction  that  the  course  of 
the  German  Empire  demanded  that  America  must 
make  the  world  safe  for  democracy.  We  are 
wholly  enlisted  until  the  objects  stated  by  the 
President  shall  have  been  achieved.  And  then — 
and  then,  what?  Will  we  return  to  the  methods 
and  thoughts  of  policies  of  pre-war  days?  The 
man  who  supposes  he  will  ever  again  live  in  a 
world  like  that  which  existed  prior  to  the  war  has 
read  history  to  little  purpose.  We  will  not  be 
afraid  in  peace  to  do  revolutionary  things  that 
help  mankind,  seeing  we  have  become  accustomed 
to  doing  them  during  the  war.  What  shape  will 
our  after-the-war  radicalism  take?  No  man  is 
wise  enough  to  prophesy ;  but  it  is  safe  to  say  our 
first  and  imperative  duty  here  in  America  is  to 
make  Democracy  safe  for  the  world.  It  would  be 
the  tragedy  of  tragedies  if  after  our  sacrifices  to 
make  the  world  safe  for  democracy  our  democ- 
racy would  not  be  of  a  brand  to  bless  the  world. 
It  must  be  purged  of  all  class  distinction,  of  every 
vestige  of  privilege,  of  every  hoary-headed  tradi- 
tion that  fetters  justice.  It  must  be  a  democracy 
such  as  Jefferson  formulated  and  Lincoln 
strengthened.  Its  standard  must  be  equal  rights 

[225] 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

to  all;  special  privileges  to  none.  But  this  gen- 
eration must  live  in  the  spirit  of  Jefferson  and 
Lincoln,  and  not  be  bound  by  policies  which  suit- 
ed their  day.  We  will  not  be  called  upon  to  fight 
primogeniture  and  the  union  of  church  and  state 
and  foreign  control  which  Jefferson  successfully 
opposed.  Human  slavery,  which  Lincoln  ended 
for  the  good  of  both  races  and  the  glory  of  his 
country,  no  longer  needs  to  be  opposed.  But  let 
us  not  doubt  that  there  will  be  lions  in  our  path 
if  we  tread  the  hard  road  of  duty.  Profiteers  in 
war,  worse  than  slackers  and  cowards,  will  not  be 
easily  routed  in  peace. 

Invoking  the  spirit  of  patriotism,  giant  evils 
will  follow  this  as  all  other  wars.  Eternal  vigi- 
lance will  still  be  the  price  of  Liberty.  Men  more 
careful  to  preserve  the  status  quo  of  1912  than  to 
secure  equal  and  exact  justice  will  not  be  wanting. 
There  will  be  as  much  need  for  courage  to  fight 
for  real  democracy  when  peace  smiles  as  there  is 
need  now  to  oppose  German  aggression.  But  the 
spirit  of  hostility  to  absolutism  will  burn  brightly 
in  the  breasts  of  the  millions  of  the  young  men  re- 
turning victorious  from  the  Rhine.  They  will 
have  cut  their  way  through  shell  and  barb  wire 
to  the  Rhine,  and  they  will  come  back  home  with 
the  high  resolve  that  America  shall  give  them  and 
their  fellows  the  kind  of  country  that  is  worthy 
of  their  heroism.  This  is  our  faith :  The  heroes 
of  to-day  in  the  trenches  must  be  heroic  in  civil 

[226] 


LOYALTY  OF  LABOR 

life,  at  the  ballot  box  and  in  the  halls  of  legis- 
lation to-morrow. 

The  world  in  which  we  shall  live  will  apply 
the  acid  test  to  every  man  who  asks  trust  or  con- 
fidence: "What  did  you  do  from  April  6,  1917, 
to  win  the  great  victory?"  and  woe  to  the  man 
of  strength  and  health  who  cannot  say :  "I  gave 
myself,  my  life,  my  all  in  the  service  where  the 
Selective  Draft  placed  me."  If  he  cannot  truly 
say  this  it  were  better  for  him  that  a  millstone 
were  hanged  about  his  neck  and  he  were  cast  into 
the  midst  of  the  sea. 

What  will  these  men  who  have  wrought  well  in 
furnace,  or  trenches  or  on  the  sea  do  when  they 
come  into  their  own?  They  will  stand  for  Jus- 
tice, for  law  and  order.  Anarchy,  Bolshevikism, 
privilege,  predatory  business  cannot  escape  their 
wrath.  They  will  have  a  world-vision  and  will 
demand  a  treaty  with  all  self-governing  nations 
to  preserve  the  peace  of  the  world,  and  will  main- 
tain a  powerful  navy  to  help  to  enforce  the  de- 
crees of  the  tribunal  they  will  set  up.  They  will 
continue  to  enlarge  the  merchant  marine  so  that 
American  bottoms  will  carry  American  goods  and 
exchange  products  with  every  nation  and  with 
all  the  isles  of  the  sea.  They  will  be  less  con- 
cerned as  to  whether  this  is  by  public  or  private 
ownership  than  with  securing  and  enlarging 
world-wide  commerce.  The  odds  are  that  they 
will  see  in  government  ownership  and  direction 
the  best  agency,  but  they  will  discard  that  if  pri- 

[227] 


THE  NAVY  AND  T.HE  NATION 

vate  ownership  insures  the  best  results.  They  will 
never  return  to  duplication  of  railroad  transpor- 
tation and  competition  in  terminals  and  facilities. 
All  the  benefits  which  government  operation  of 
railroads  have  given  will  be  continued,  whether 
the  railroads  are  in  public  or  private  ownership. 
The  telephone  and  telegraph  will  probably  be  a 
permanent  part  of  the  postal  service,  though  the 
men  who  will  then  rule  America  will  be  open- 
minded  enough  to  discuss  the  best  method  of  com- 
munication. The  lessons  of  sanitation  and  war 
on  drink  and  immoral  disease  will  insure  to  the 
civilian  population  as  great  care  and  as  scientific 
effort  in  the  methods  of  prevention  and  cure  as 
war  has  taught  are  needed  for  the  men  under 
arms. 

These  men  will  have  little  patience  with  the 
how-not-to-do-its  and  the  better-stick-to-the-old- 
way  apostles  and  apologists.  Men  who  have  dug 
trenches  under  the  fire  of  the  enemy,  stood  on  de- 
stroyers unafraid  when  struck  by  torpedoes,  en- 
dured privation  in  the  armies,  and  toiled  to  weari- 
ness on  farm  and  in  factory  to  win  the  war — 
these  men  will  base  their  creed  upon  the  Declara- 
tion of  Independence  and  the  Treaty  of  Peace, 
and  the  men  who  wish  to  build  high  walls  to  make 
an  isolated  America  or  turn  national  wealth  into 
selfish  channels  will  be  little  heeded  in  the  for- 
ward march  as  these  men  make  America  truly 
democratic,  where  all  men  have  equal  opportunity, 

[228] 


LOYALTY  OF  LABOR 

and  where  no  man  can  "take  from  the  mouth  of 
labor  the  bread  it  has  earned." 

In  the  Golden  Age  of  the  Republic  now  soon  to 
dawn,  when  only  men  who  have  made  sacrifices 
will  be  deemed  worthy  of  a  seat  in  the  council 
chambers,  Labor  will  come  into  its  own.  It  will 
not  seek  anything  for  itself  that  it  has  not  earned. 
It  will  ask  nothing  that  will  take  what  belongs 
to  others.  It  will  not  foregather  only  with  men 
of  its  own  craft,  but  will  keep  America  free  from 
class  consciousness  and  from  class  political 
action.  It  will  claim  for  itself  justice  and  equality 
and  will  demand  that  all  Americans  alike  shall 
have  no  less;  the  equal  enjoyment  of  the  birth- 
right of  all  citizens  of  this  free  Republic. 


[229] 


XXV 

LAFAYETTE'S  PROPHECY  FULFILLED 

In  responding  to  a  toast  which  gave  him  title  as  "the 
great  apostle  of  personal  liberty,"  LaFayette  counseled 
against  any  division  of  the  Union  and  accompanied  it 
with  a  prophecy  which  is  this  day  being  fulfilled  before 
the  very  eyes  of  a  million  and  a  half  Americans  in 
France,  who,  with  brave  men  of  other  free  nations,  are 
making  real  his  prediction.  The  toast  he  offered  was: 

"Perpetual  union  among  the  United  States  ;  it  has  saved 
us  in  our  times  of  danger,  it  will  save  the  world." 

Celebration  of  LaFayette's  Birthday  at  LaFayette 
Monument,  Washington,  September  6, 


EVERY  notable  period  furnishes  its  prophet. 
Contrary  to  the  accepted  opinion,  prophets  are  not 
dreamers.  They  are  doers.  They  prophesy  and 
help  to  fulfill  that  which  they  foretell.  For  more 
than  a  century,  upon  each  recurring  September 
6th,  when  the  birthday  of  LaFayette  has  been  cel- 
ebrated, gifted  speakers  have  presented  him  as  the 
superb  soldier,  the  chivalric  knight,  the  chevalier 
of  "the  gentleman  among  nations,"  the  devoted 
friend,  the  courageous  champion  of  the  rights  of 
man,  and  the  foe  of  every  form  of  tyranny  and 
absolutism. 

To-day,  as  we  stand  at  the  base  of  this  noble 
[230] 


LAFAYETTE'S  PROPHECY  FULFILLED 

monument,  erected  in  a  country  whose  love  shines 
brighter  than  its  gratitude,  let  us  think  of  him 
rather  as  the  man  of  prophecy  and  faith.  He  was 
the  seer  who  saw  where  others  were  blind,  the  be- 
liever in  a  generation  which  lacked  vision.  There 
were  other  men  as  courageous,  many  who  gave 
their  lives  in  battle.  Then,  as  now,  courage  was 
the  commonest  as  well  as  the  noblest  virtue  of  our 
humanity.  France  was  not  wanting  in  men  of 
ideals,  in  men  who  dreamed  of  liberty,  and  in  men 
who  hoped  and  prayed  that  the  Americans  would 
win  their  independence.  LaFayette,  with  the  au- 
dacity of  faith  found  only  in  youths  of  adventure, 
saw  in  the  young  Republic  the  hope  of  humanity. 
It  was  as  real  to  him  before  he  set  out  on  La  Vic- 
toria to  become  the  associate  and  friend  of  Wash- 
ington as  when  his  prayers  were  answered  as  the 
French  fleet  appeared  in  the  offing  at  Yorktown 
and  won  a  notable  naval  victory,  the  significance 
of  which  was  long  not  appreciated.  Looking  back 
upon  the  Revolution,  in  which  he  bore  so  conspic- 
uous a  part,  LaFayette  wrote :  "This  was  the  last 
struggle  of  liberty.  Its  defeat  would  have  left  it 
without  a  refuge  and  without  a  hope." 

LaFayette  the  Prophet !  Let  that  be  our  theme 
to-day.  In  1825,  with  the  natural  desire  of 
the  old  to  revisit  the  scenes  of  their  youthful 
struggles,  he  made  a  visit  to  America  which  will 
ever  be  memorable.  No  citizen  of  our  own  coun- 
try ever  received  so  loving  a  welcome.  His  jour- 
neys were  triumphal  processions.  The  ardor  of 


THE  NAVY  AND  TtfE  NATION 

revolutionary  days  was  rekindled.  In  the  capital 
of  the  Republic  he  was  received  with  every  honor 
and  distinction.  At  a  dinner  in  his  honor,  at- 
tended by  President  Monroe,  Mr.  Gaillard,  the 
presiding  officer  of  the  Senate;  Henry  Clay, 
Speaker  of  the  House,  and  other  eminent  men,  in 
responding  to  a  toast  which  gave  him  title  as  "the 
great  apostle  of  national  liberty,"  LaFayette 
counseled  against  any  division  of  the  Union  and 
accompanied  it  with  a  prophecy  which  is  this  day 
being  fulfilled  before  the  very  eyes  of  a  million 
and  a  half  Americans  in  France,  who,  with  brave 
men  of  other  free  nations,  are  making  real  his 
prediction.  The  toast  he  offered  was : 

"Perpetual  union  among  the  United  States ;  it 
has  saved  us  in  our  times  of  danger;  it  will  save 
the  world." 

That  prophecy  did  not  pass  without  comment, 
for  Niles'  Register  in  remarking  upon  the  occa- 
sion said  it  was  "one  of  the  proudest  days  in  the 
annals  of  our  country,"  and  with  the  prescience 
which  enabled  the  writer  to  see  the  year  1918, 
added,  "a  day  which  will  be  told  with  high  satis- 
faction to  our  remote  posterity."  As  we  stand  be- 
neath the  figure  of  Prophet  LaFayette,  the  echoes 
of  that  gathering  come  down  to  us.  The  union  of 
the  United  States  had  secured  the  independence 
of  our  country  and  made  it  the  beacon  light  of 
liberty.  LaFayette,  with  an  insight  into  the 
struggle  of  this  decade,  with  the  assurance  of  the 

[232] 


LAFAYETTE'S  PROPHECY  FULFILLED 

prophets  of  old,  stood  up  in  that  assembly  and  de- 
clared, "It  will  save  the  world." 

Glorious  vision  of  the  man  to  whom  the  secrets 
of  all  ages  were  revealed !  Was  it  given  to  him  to 
see  the  6th  of  September,  1914,  when  Liberty  in 
this  generation  was  in  the  death  struggle  in  Eu- 
rope and  the  life  of  his  own  great  Republic 
across  the  seas  hung  in  the  balance?  Do  noble 
natures  of  separated  centuries  have  communion  ? 
It  has  been  said  that  it  was  an  accident  of  fate 
that  made  the  first  victory  of  the  Marne  fall  on 
the  birthday  of  LaFayette.  Should  we  not  say  it 
was  a  glorious  coincidence  ?  Or,  better  still,  that 
Marshal  Joffre's  victory  was  a  providential  and 
fitting  celebration  of  the  hundred  and  fifty-sev- 
enth birthday  of  Gilbert  du  Notier  de  LaFayette? 
We  come  now  to  another  victory  of  the  Marne, 
thankful  for  the  genius  of  Foch,  who  wears 
worthily  the  mantle  of  LaFayette.  And  again,  on 
LaFayette's  birthday,  victorious  encounters  by 
the  allied  armies  in  France  bring  us  nearer  to  the 
success  at  arms  which  will  mean  to  the  whole 
world  what  Yorktown  meant  to  the  Western 
Hemisphere.  There  never  was  a  darker  day  in 
the  American  revolution  than  when  at  George- 
town, S.  C,  January  13,  1777,  LaFayette  landed 
to  offer  his  sword  in  the  unequal  struggle.  In  his 
memoirs  he  says  when  he  arrived  in  America  he 
vowed  to  win  or  die  here  in  the  cause  of  Liberty. 
All  his  dreams  of  what  he  would  find  in  the  new 
world  were  realized,  and  to  his  wife,  whom  he 

[233] 


THE  NAVY  AND  T#E  NATION 

called  "Dear  Heart,"  he  writes,  "All  citizens  are 
brothers;  the  richest  and  the  poorest  are  on  the 
same  social  level,"  and  he  described  the  American 
women  as  "beautiful,  unaffected  in  manner,  and 
of  a  charming  neatness."  Of  Congress  he  asked 
only  two  favors,  "the  one  to  serve  without  pay  at 
my  own  expense,  the  other  that  I  be  allowed  to 
serve  at  first  as  a  volunteer."  His  offer  was  ac- 
cepted, he  was  commissioned  as  a  major  general 
at  the  age  of  twenty,  an  age  which  some  people 
think  too  young  for  men  to  be  entrusted  with  mil- 
itary command.  LaFayette  was  only  eighteen 
when,  a  junior  officer  in  the  French  Musketeers, 
dining  with  his  commanders  of  the  garrison  at 
Metz,  he  heard  the  Duke  of  Gloucester,  a  brother 
but  not  a  friend  of  King  George  III,  tell  the  story 
of  the  fight  for  freedom  in  America.  As  he  lis- 
tened, the  heart  of  the  eighteen-year-old  boy 
spanned  the  Atlantic  and  he  "enlisted"  with  all 
the  enthusiasm  and  the  faith  of  the  Knights  who 
went  in  quest  of  the  Holy  Grail.  Every  member 
of  his  family  except  his  seventeen-year-old  wife 
regarded  his  determination  to  aid  America  as  a 
mad  adventure.  Let  us  pay  tribute  to  the  wis- 
dom of  youth  and  never  again  bow  down  to  the 
accepted  superior  judgment  of  age!  LaFayette 
is  the  type  of  eternal  youth.  With  years  come 
prudence  and  caution  and  conventions  which  aid 
knowledge,  but  youth  has  the  courage  of  its  ideals, 
the  audacity  of  its  faith,  and  the  readiness  to  risk 
all,  even  life  itself,  for  liberty.  All  great  wars 

[234] 


LAFAYETTE'S  PROPHECY  FULFILLED 

have  been  fought  by  what  older  people  call  "mere 
boys."  In  the  War  between  the  States  the  vast 
majority  of  those  who  followed  Grant  and  Lee 
were  youths,  hundreds  of  thousands  under  21 
years  of  age,  many  of  them  under  18.  There 
never  were  finer  soldiers  in  all  history.  It  was  the 
dash  and  daring  of  youth  that  swept  all  before  it 
in  that  mighty  struggle,  and  it  is  the  same  spirit 
which  to-day  animates  our  armies  fighting  their 
way  across  the  battle-scarred  fields  of  France  and 
which,  with  our  allies,  will  eventually  drive  the 
last  invader  from  the  soil  of  LaFayette's  beloved 
country. 

LaFayette  knew  that  the  heart  of  France  was 
with  America  during  the  disheartening  days  that 
followed  Valley  Forge,  just  as  all  France  knows 
the  heart  of  America  warmed  toward  France 
from  the  moment  of  its  invasion.  All  the  while  he 
worked  for  an  understanding  between  America 
and  France.  He  was  rewarded  when  the  French 
fleet  under  DeGrasse  and  the  French  Army  under 
Rochambeau  (who  with  Portail  and  d'Estaing 
are  honored  as  the  four  minor  figures  grouped  be- 
low or  round  the  central  figure  of  Marquis  de 
LaFayette  in  the  statue  before  us)  gave  Wash- 
ington the  preponderance  that  compelled  the  sur- 
render of  Cornwallis.  In  the  year  of  alternate 
hope  and  fear,  LaFayette  and  Rochambeau  urged 
upon  France  the  opportunity  and  duty  of  helping 
the  colonists.  Rochambeau  wrote:  "Nothing 
without  naval  supremacy!"  He  sent  his  son  to 

[235] 


THE  NAVY  AND  TJHE  NATION 

France  to  ask  for  more  ships  and  Washington 
sent  Henry  Lawrence,  saying:  "This  is  our  last 
chance;  our  country  is  exhausted,  our  force  is 
nearly  spent,  the  cause  nearly  lost.  If  France 
delays  a  timely  and  powerful  aid  in  this  critical 
posture  of  our  affairs,  it  will  avail  us  nothing 
should  she  attempt  it  hereafter." 

In  May,  1781,  Rochambeau  received  a  message 
saying:  "It  is  impossible  to  send  you  troops,  but 
a  new  fleet  is  being  sent."  Washington's  army, 
passing  Philadelphia  on  their  march  to  the  South, 
were  entertained  by  LaLuzerne,  the  French  min- 
ister. Abbe  Robin,  chaplain  of  the  French  troops, 
wrote :  "We  were  scarcely  seated  when  a  courier 
was  introduced.  An  anxious  silence  reigns  among 
the  guests ;  all  eyes  are  fixed  on  the  Chevalier  de 
La  Luzerne;  people  try  to  guess  what  the  news 
can  be."  He  relieves  their  suspense  and  thrills 
them  when  he  says :  "Thirty-six  ships  of  the  line, 
under  the  command  of  Count  de  Grasse,  are  in 
Chesapeake  Bay,  and  three  thousand  men  have 
been  landed  and  established  communication  with 
the  Marquis  de  LaFayette."  He  fought  the  Brit- 
ish fleets  and  so  damaged  them  that  they  put  back 
to  New  York.  Washington  wrote  to  DeGrasse : 
"The  honor  of  the  surrender  of  York  belongs  to 
your  Excellency."  To  Congress  he  said,  "I  wish 
it  was  in  my  power  to  express  to  Congress  how 
much  I  feel  myself  indebted  to  the  Count  de 
Grasse  and  the  officers  of  the  fleet  under  his  com- 
mand." Congress  passed  a  resolution  expressing 

[236] 


LAFAYETTE'S  PROPHECY  FULFILLED 

to  DeGrasse  "The  thanks  of  the  United  States 
for  his  display  of  skill  and  bravery  in  attacking 
and  defeating  the  British  fleet  off  the  Bay  of 
Chesapeake."  The  French  navy  and  the  French 
soldiers  saved  the  day. 

When  America  entered  the  war,  at  the  hour 
when  the  need  of  the  Allies  was  sorest,  history  re- 
peated itself.  In  the  first  days  we  said,  as  France 
said  to  Rochambeau :  "It  is  impossible  to  send  you 
troops  at  once,  but  our  Fleet  is  being  sent."  Naval 
vessels  were  dispatched  at  once  to  join  the  allied 
fleet  and  take  part  in  the  war  against  the  subma- 
rine menace.  It  was  a  return  of  the  visit  of  the 
French  fleet  that  came  into  the  Chesapeake  in 
1783.  The  army,  now  numbering  in  France 
1,600,000,  has  been  safely  conveyed  across  the 
Atlantic,  and  with  the  men  under  arms  from  all 
the  allied  nations,  will  fulfill  the  prophecy  of  La- 
Fayette  and  "save  the  world."  We  will  add  to 
the  million  and  a  half  already  engaged  as  many 
more  millions  as  may  be  needed,  for  all  America 
has  highly  resolved  that  the  brave  men  of  this 
country  and  all  the  allied  nations  shall  not  have 
died  in  vain.  And  as  the  brave  Americans  em- 
bark, every  one  of  them  will  recall  that  the  inde- 
pendence we  won  in  the  Revolution  was  largely 
due  to  LaFayette  and  his  patriotic  countrymen. 

When  Pershing  reached  France  with  the  first 
American  troops,  he  made  a  pious  pilgrimage  to 
the  Picpus  Cemetery  in  Paris,  placed  a  wreath  on 
the  grave  of  LaFayette  and  simply  said:  "La- 

[237] 


THE  NAVY  AND  TJIE  NATION 

Fayette,  nous  voila  (we  are  here)."  And  as  the 
millions  more  will  reach  the  shores  of  France, 
they  will  not  pause  from  their  grim  determination 
to  say  much.  The  advances  made  steel  our  cour- 
age and  confirm  our  faith.  Deeds  alone  count. 
All  that  is  necessary  will  be  to  invoke  a  double 
portion  of  the  spirit  of  the  knightly  Marquis  and 
say:  "LaFayette,  we  are  here!" 


[238] 


XXVI 

WILSON  AND  WILHELM — OPPOSING  IDEALS 
CONTRASTED 

The  spirit  and  the  faith  of  the  two  countries  [Germany 
and  America]  could  not  be  better  contrasted  than  in  the 
boastful  claim  of  an  irresponsible  Emperor  whose  God  is 
"the  unconditional  and  avowed  ally"  of  the  nation 
that  tramples  upon  His  teachings,  and  the  declara- 
tion of  the  true  spokesman  of  American  faith  who 
invoked  the  favor  of  God  for  the  people  of  his  country 
"only  if  they  rise  to  the  clear  heights  of  His  own  justice 
and  mercy." 

Address  to  Class  of  648  Reserve  Ensigns,  Naval 
Academy,  Annapolis,  Md.,  Sept.  18,  1918. 

THE  attention  of  the  world,  in  the  past  few 
days,  has  been  centered  upon  four  things:  I.  The 
victories  of  the  allied  forces,  culminating  in 
Pershing's  advance  and  capture  of  prisoners;  2. 
The  speech  of  the  Kaiser  at  Essen;  3.  Germany's 
offer  of  a  treaty  of  peace  with  Belgium ;  4.  Aus- 
tria's suggestions  of  a  conference  of  all  the  bel- 
ligerent nations  for  the  purpose  of  exchanging 
views.  These  four  incidents  are  not  separate,  but 
are  closely  related.  The  last  three  were  inspired 
by  the  first.  If  the  allied  forces  had  not  won  mil- 
itary victories,  no  such  remarkable  speech  as  Wil- 

[239] 


THE  NAVY  AND  T.HE  NATION 

helm's  made  to  the  workers  in  Krupps  would  have 
been  delivered,  the  tender  to  Belgium  would  riot 
have  been  made,  and  the  Austrian  feeler  for  a 
talk-fest  would  not  have  been  put  forth. 

There  is  a  lesson  for  us  to-day  in  the  sequence 
of  these  events.  Military  success  is  the  only  argu- 
ment that  German  militarists  can  now  under- 
stand. When  appeals  are  made  to  the  solemnity 
of  the  plighted  word,  pleas  for  humanity  are  of- 
fered, arguments  against  the  spirit  of  conquest 
presented — these  fall  upon  ears  that  have  been 
trained  to  deafness.  The  German  war-lords 
never  understood  the  utterances  of  the  President 
when  he  declared  for  the  rights  of  small  nations, 
protested  against  the  barbarity  of  the  submarine 
slaughter  of  women  and  children,  and  demanded 
the  freedom  of  the  seas  as  the  just  right  of  all 
nations,  great  and  small.  It  was  never  until  his 
Baltimore  address  that  they  understood  his  lan- 
guage. "Force,  force  to  the  utmost,"  declared 
America's  chosen  spokesman  on  April  6th; 
"Force  without  stint  or  limit,  the  righteous  and 
triumphant  Force  which  shall  make  Right  the 
law  of  the  world  and  cast  every  selfish  dominion 
down  in  the  dust."  They  had  some  conception 
of  what  "Force  to  the  limit"  meant,  for  that  has 
been  the  German  method  since  it  wantonly  and 
in  the  lust  for  what  belonged  to  others,  began  the 
war  in  1914. 

But  though  they  understood  that  language, 
they  did  not  believe  a  Republic  could  organize  an 

[240] 


OPPOSING  IDEALS  CONTRASTED 

effective  force  against  a  machine  which  autocracy 
had  been  creating  with  all  its  energy  for  half  a 
century.  They  did  not  conceive  that  citizen-sol- 
diers, .under  capable  leadership,  could  win  battles 
with  less  than  a  generation  of  training  or  that 
they  could  fight  successfully  without  a  hymn  of 
hate.  They  derided  the  value  of  the  President's 
"force  without  stint  or  limit,"  and  told  their  peo- 
ple that  America  had  no  army,  and  could  not 
organize  one  to  be  serviceable  in  this  war.  When 
millions  were  under  training,  they  declared: 
"They  cannot  be  transported  because  America 
has  not  the  ships."  When  the  ships  were  forth- 
coming, American  and  British,  they  lulled  the 
German  people  into  a  sense  of  false  security  by 
promising  that  their  submarines  would  sink  them. 
And  when  more  than  a  million  and  a  half  soldiers 
were  landed  in  France,  they  made  light  of  this 
achievement  of  army  and  navy  by  saying  that 
these  youths  without  experience  would  be  easy 
victims  for  their  hardened  veterans.  Is  it  any 
wonder,  after  it  began  to  sink  into  Germany  that 
American  troops  were  fit  to  fight  and  took  their 
places  as  equals  with  the  soldiers  of  allied  nations, 
that  for  the  first  time  in  his  history  the  German 
Emperor  felt  it  necessary  to  hurry  to  the  muni- 
tions plants  and  take  a  hand-primary  of  the  work- 
ers and  compel  them  to  publicly  promise  to  go  on 
with  their  work  for  the  fatherland?  That  speech, 
not  so  much  for  what  it  said  but  because  of  the 
compulsion  of  making  it,  was  the  best  proof  that 

[241! 


THE  NAVY  AND  TPE  NATION 


the  German  will  to  go  on  in  a  hopeless  war  is 
waning. 

Whenever  an  Emperor  who  believes  he  rules 
by  divine  right  is  forced  to  take  a  hand-primary 
of  the  toilers,  you  may  be  sure  the  timbers  that  up- 
hold autocracy  and  militarism  are  weakening  and 
that  he  sees  the  need  of  strengthening  their  foun- 
dations. In  that  speech,  making  an  earnest  plea 
to  the  workers,  to  promise  him,  on  behalf  of  Ger- 
man labor,  "we  intend  to  fight  to  the  last,"  the 
Kaiser  in  one  sentence  gave  utterance  to  the  ir- 
reconcilable differences  between  the  faiths  of 
men  who  are  ruled  and  men  who  rule  themselves. 
He  said:  "Each  of  us  has  received  his  appointed 
task  from  on  high  —  you  at  your  hammer,  you  at 
your  lathe,  and  me  upon  the  throne."  It  is  a  sad 
proof  of  the  effectiveness  of  long  indoctrination 
in  error,  that  the  men  who,  when  told  they  were 
compelled  all  their  lives  to  work  at  hammer  and 
forge,  accepted  the  state  of  vassalage  and  pledged 
their  support.  How  many  of  them  did  so  under 
compulsion?  and  how  many  because  they  accept 
without  challenge  the  theory  that  "some  men  are 
born  booted  and  spurred  to  ride  upon  the  backs 
of  others,  to  the  glory  of  God"  ?  These  questions 
will  be  answered  only  after  a  victorious  peace  re- 
moves the  ban  upon  the  rights  of  men  to  think  for 
themselves  and  speak  their  thoughts  without  fear. 

Germany  accepts  the  creed  that  the  Junkers 
were  born  booted  and  spurred  to  ride  upon  the 
backs  of  the  people  who  were  preordained  to  be 

[242] 


OPPOSING  IDEALS  CONTRASTED 

hewers  of  wood  and  drawers  of  water.  America 
denies  with  the  passion  of  freedom  that  from  "on 
high"  comes  any  appointed  task  at  hammer  or 
forge  or  throne,  or  that  men  are  cribbed  or  con- 
fined in  any  sphere  of  action.  We  profoundly 
believe  here  that  men  are  created  equal  and  that 
doors  of  opportunity  and  advancement  must  open 
to  all  alike.  We  hold  with  Daniel  Webster  that 
"God  grants  liberty  to  those  who  love  it  and  are 
always  ready  to  guard  and  defend  it."  When 
America  ceases  to  hold  to  that  creed  and  fight 
for  it,  then  this  will  no  longer  be  America.  And 
it  is  because  the  Prussian  war-lords  resolved  to 
bestride  the  world  and  govern  it  in  the  spirit  of 
the  Kaiser's  speech  at  Essen  that  America  is  in 
the  war.  Having  entered  to  prevent  the  rule  of 
the  world  by  Force  and  Greed,  the  people  of 
America  will  remain  in  the  war  until  the  dangers 
of  conquest  and  oppression  are  ended,  and  peace 
is  guaranteed  by  a  League  of  Nations,  with  a 
navy  powerful  enough  to  enforce  the  enlightened 
decrees  of  an  enlightened  world. 

"I  left  no  stone  unturned  to  shorten  the  war," 
said  the  Kaiser  in  that  remarkable  speech.  He 
spoke  truly  when  he  said  that.  For  more  than  a 
score  of  years  he  had  been  whetting  his  knife  for 
the  throat  of  peaceful  neighbors.  When  the  fav- 
orable hour  came  to  strike  he  devastated  Belgium 
and  hastened  toward  Paris  to  despoil  the  French, 
fully  expecting  when  that  had  been  accomplished 
to  turn  swiftly  upon  Russia  and  make  it  a  vassal 

[243] 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

state.  He  "left  no  stone  unturned  to  shorten  the 
war,"  for  his  troops  on  land  spared  neither 
woman  nor  child,  church  nor  home,  and  on  sea 
his  sailors  gloated  as  they  sent  unarmed  ships 
with  non-combatants  of  both  sexes  of  every  age 
to  their  sepulcher  of  the  deep.  Let  nobody  ques- 
tion the  truthfulness  of  the  statement  that  he  did 
all  he  could  to  shorten  the  war — for  no  Hun,  no 
Attila,  no  medieval  soldier  sought  his  end  by  less 
consideration  of  those  upon  whom  his  soldiers 
trampled  in  their  eagerness  to  "shorten  the  war" 
and  fatten  upon  the  fruits  of  the  labor  of  the  con- 
quered. 

He '"left  no  stone  unturned,"  but  his  efforts 
were  unavailing.  Why  ?  Because  he  put  his  faith 
in  a  German-made  God,  as  is  shown  in  his  address 
to  the  Army  on  the  22d  of  December,  1917:  "The 
year  1917,  with  its  great  battles,  has  proved  that 
the  German  people  have  in  the  Lord  of  Creation 
alone  an  unconditional  and  avowed  ally  on  whom 
it  can  absolutely  rely."  Why?  Because,  with 
reverence,  President  Wilson  in  his  message  to 
Congress  a  few  days  before,  on  December  4th, 
1917,  said:  "The  hand  of  God  is  laid  upon  the 
nations.  He  will  show  them  favor,  I  devoutly 
believe,  only  if  they  rise  to  the  clear  heights  of 
His  own  justice  and  mercy."  The  spirit  and  the 
faith  of  the  two  countries  could  not  be  better 
contrasted  than  in  the  boastful  claim  of  an  irre- 
sponsible Emperor  whose  God  is  "the  uncondi- 
tional and  avowed  ally"  of  the  nation  that 

[244] 


OPPOSING  IDEALS  CONTRASTED 

tramples  upon  His  teachings,  and  the  declaration 
of  the  true  spokesman  of  American  faith  who  in- 
voked the  favor  of  God  for  the  people  of  his 
country  "only  if  they  rise  to  the  clear  heights  of 
His  own  justice  and  mercy." 

The  allied  advances  are  alone  responsible  for 
the  offer  of  peace  to  Belgium  and  the  proposition 
of  the  Austrian  Emperor  for  a  conference. 
American  courage  on  land  and  sea  wrote  the  first 
notes  of  the  peace  offensive.  Having  failed  of 
their  objectives  by  brutal  disregard  of  the  humane 
standards  of  warfare,  the  German  war  lords  and 
their  associates  start  a  peace  drive.  America 
longs,  yearns,  prays  and  fights  for  peace.  It  is 
the  goal  of  all  its  purposes.  When  the  free  peo- 
ples of  the  world  almost  held  their  breath  after 
the  successful  German  drive  in  March,  Lloyd 
George  in  speaking  of  the  future  said:  "It  is  a 
race  between  Wilson  and  Hindenburg,"  alluding 
to  the  need  of  large  bodies  of  American  troops  to 
give  the  reserves  needed  for  the  blows  recently 
struck.  In  that  race  Wilson  has  won ! 

President  Wilson  will  "leave  no  stone  un- 
turned" to  secure  the  peace  of  righteousness  and 
justice  for  which  our  soldiers  and  sailors  are 
freely  making  the  supreme  sacrifice.  Lloyd 
George,  whose  gift  of  illuminating  expression  is 
not  the  least  of  his  talents,  recently  declared  that 
the  Germans  could  have  peace  any  day  they  were 
ready  to  accept  the  terms  stated  by  President  Wil- 
son in  his  address  before  Congress,  Tuesday,  Jan- 

[245] 


THE  NAVY  AND  T.HE  NATION 

uary  8,  1918.  Those  terms  are  the  terms  only  of 
justice  and  have  in  them  nothing  for  the  enrich- 
ment of  America.  The  answer  of  President  Wil- 
son to  the  Austrian  note  is  direct  and  leaves  noth- 
ing to  be  desired.  That  answer  sent  consterna- 
tion to  those  who  want  a  peace  "made  in  Ger- 
many" and  was  a  trumpet  call  to  all  who  have 
highly  resolved  that  the  peace  which  the  world 
needs  can  only  come  with  abandonment  of  con- 
quest and  acceptance  of  the  rights  alike  of  the 
weak  and  the  powerful.  The  German  war  lords 
will  not  accept  that  peace  now  because  they  prefer 
the  death  of  millions  of  their  subjects,  who  had 
no  will  in  bringing  on  the  war  and  have  no  voice 
in  their  government,  to  an  acceptance  of  the 
rights  of  the  people  to  determine  their  own  lives 
and  the  character  of  their  Government.  Their 
spirit  was  expressed  by  their  Count  in  Belgium 
who  said  to  Brand  Whitlock:  "Freedom,  it's  not 
our  way;  and  as  for  democracy — we  want  none 
of  it."  When  the  German  ruler  and  people  are 
ready  to  retire  into  their  own  territory  and  recog- 
nize that  not  a  foot  of  land  or  a  dollar  of  booty 
can  be  retained  by  conquest — when  that  moment 
arrives  they  will  accept  the  just  and  moderate 
terms  of  President  Wilson,  approved  by  the  Al- 
lies. Then  peace,  lasting  peace,  will  smile  upon 
the  world.  Nothing  short  of  that  will  assure  the 
goal  for  which  we  are  fighting  that  the  next  gen- 
eration will  be  freed  from  the  scourge  of  war  or 
the  alternative  of  submission  to  the  conqueror. 

[246] 


OPPOSING  IDEALS  CONTRASTED 

In  America,  to  quote  Ibsen's  phrase,  "there  a 
free  air  blows  over  the  people."  Why  should  not 
this  free  air  blow  over  the  people  of  Belgium  and 
Servia  and  Roumania  ?  Why  should  the  Czecho- 
slovaks, the  Poles  and  other  subject  peoples  stifle 
when  this  free  air  would  give  them  life  and  hope 
and  national  glory  ?  Why  indeed  should  Germans 
breathe  the  foul  air  of  autocracy  when  if  a  free 
air  could  blow  over  them  their  brains  would  be 
clear  to  rise  superior  to  the  miasma  of  militarism  ? 

What  is  our  ideal  of  war  and  how  does  it  com- 
pare with  the  ideals  of  Prussianism?  The  two 
men  who  speak  for  the  opposing  ideals  have  left 
us  nothing-of  conjecture.  The  Prussian  ideal  has 
been  seen  in  the  plunging  of  the  world  into  war 
with  no  excuse  except  the  greed  for  world  domin- 
ion and  in  the  ruthless  deeds  of  German  soldiers. 
But  we  find  it  not  only  in  deeds  but  as  well  in 
explicit  words.  Speaking  to  his  troops  embarking 
for  China,  July  27th,  1900,  the  German  Kaiser 
said :  "When  you  face  the  enemy  he  will  be  beat- 
en !  No  quarter  will  be  given !  No  prisoners  will 
be  taken !  Whoever  falls  into  your  hands,  let  him 
be  at  your  mercy !  Just  as  the  Huns  a  thousand 
years  ago,  under  their  King  Attila,  gained  a  repu- 
tation in  virtue  of  which  they  still  appear  mighty 
in  tradition  and  story,  so  may  the  name  German 
be  established  by  you  in  such  a  manner  that  for  a 
thousand  years  no  Chinaman  will  ever  dare  to 
look  askance  at  a  German." 

Speaking  to  the  National  Army  last  year  Presi- 

[247] 


THE  NAVY  AND  TJIE  NATION 

dent  Wilson  gave  the  American  ideal  of  war  in 
his  counsel  to  the  young  men  going  abroad  to 
join  the  armies  fighting  for  freedom.  Mark  the 
contrast  between  the  counsel  given  by  the  German 
Emperor  and  the  American  President.  Mr.  Wil- 
son said: 

"You  are  undertaking  a  great  duty.  The 
heart  of  the  whole  country  is  with  you.  The 
eyes  of  all  the  world  will  be  upon  you,  because 
you  are  in  some  special  sense  the  soldiers  of  free- 
dom. Let  it  be  your  pride,  therefore,  to  show  all 
men  everywhere  not  only  what  good  soldiers  you 
are,  but  also  what  good  men  you  are,  keeping 
yourselves  fit  and  straight  in  everything  and 
pure  and  clean  through  and  through. 

"Let  us  set  for  ourselves  a  standard  so  high 
that  it  will  be  a  glory  to  live  up  to  it,  and  then  let 
us  live  up  to  it,  and  add  a  new  laurel  to  the  crown 
of  America.  My  affectionate  confidence  goes 
with  you  in  every  battle  and  every  test.  God 
keep  and  guide  you !" 


[248] 


XXVII 

WEALTH  ENLISTED  IN  THE  NATION^  SERVICE 

You  have  enabled  America  to  give  to  the  world  a  new 
conception  of  finance.  You  have  taught  the  other  na- 
tions that  the  American's  idea  of  his  money,  like  his  idea 
of  his  life,  is  something  which  is  to  be  freely  and  un- 
grudgingly given  for  his  ideals  and  his  country  whenever 
his  country  calls. 

American  Bankers'  Association,  Chicago,  September 
27, 


You  have,  all  of  you,  as  individuals,  as  mem- 
bers of  associations  and  patriotic  bodies  expressed 
your  pride  and  appreciation  of  the  magnificent 
achievements  of  our  armies  and  our  soldiers;  our 
navy  and  its  sailors  ;  our  manufacturers  and  their 
factories  ;  our  workmen  and  their  industry.  You 
have  all  given  unstinted  and  unselfish  praise  for 
the  splendid  way  they  have  met  the  tremendous 
problems  of  this  fearful  war. 

I  am  here  to  express  to  you,  speaking  for  our 
Government;  speaking  for  the  citizens  of  our 
country;  and,  I  can  add,  speaking  for  the  Allied 
World  at  large,  to  tell  you  of  our  appreciation  of 
the  splendid  achievements  and  unselfish  patriot- 
ism, of  the  efficient  efforts  shown  by  the  bankers 
of  America;  to  let  you  feel  that  we  realize  what 

[249] 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

you  have  done,  what  you  are  doing,  and  what  you 
will  do  towards  the  winning  of  this  war ;  that  we 
feel  that  you,  by  your  abundant  labors  and  gener- 
ous contributions  to  provide  the  funds  for  fight- 
ing men  and  to  benevolent  objects,  have  given  the 
lie  to  the  sneers  and  taunts  of  our  adversaries 
that  we  are  a  mere  nation  of  money-makers,  inter- 
ested only  in  profits.  We  have  proved  that  so  ob- 
viously, so  absurdly  and  patently  false  as  to  cause 
the  most  rabid  of  Prussians  to  drop  as  an  useless 
and  obviously  absurd  libel  their  whole  campaign 
of  belittlement  of  our  national  aims  and  motives. 

The  country  is  proud  of  you.  You  have  shown 
the  world  that  when  your  country  calls,  our  bank- 
ers, like  our  soldiers  and  our  sailors,  have  forgot- 
ten all  selfish  interests,  all  class  interests,  all  inter- 
ests of  every  kind,  and  with  no  thought  of  per- 
sonal advantage  or  disadvantage,  have  set  out  to 
help  win  this  war  as  best  they  can.  And  if  we 
are  proud  of  the  spirit  in  which  you  have  done 
this,  we  are  no  less  proud  of  the  splendid  intelli- 
gence and  the  magnificent  business  efficiency  with 
which  you  have  translated  your  willingness  to 
serve  into  actual  efficient  service,  the  magnitude 
of  which  cannot  be  overstated. 

We  are  now  well  into  the  second  year  of  our 
participation  in  this  war.  We  are  spending  more 
money  in  a  day  than  we  spent  at  one  time  in  a 
year.  We  are  asking  you  and  our  people  for  bil- 
lions, many  billions,  at  a  time.  We  have  diverted 
to  war  work  much  of  our  national  industry,  by 

[250] 


WEALTH  ENLISTED  IN  SERVICE 

which  money  is  normally  accumulated  by  our 
people  and  yet  you  are  able,  to-day,  to  attend  this 
convention  with  no  fear  of  panics  at  home ;  with 
no  anxious  inquiries  after  possible  telegrams  of 
financial  troubles  at  the  hotel  desk ;  with  balance 
sheets  of  actual  profits  more  satisfactory  than 
they  have  ever  been  before ;  as  undisturbed,  as  un- 
afraid as  if  we  were  in  the  middle  of  the  "piping" 
times  of  peace.  Think  of  it.  You  have  paid  out 
over  your  counters  already  over  six  billion  dol- 
lars for  Liberty  Bonds,  out  of  the  total  of  nine 
billion  nine  hundred  and  seventy-five  millions  al- 
lot ed,  and  yet  your  resources,  instead  of  shrink- 
ing, have  grown  in  the  year  preceding  last  May, 
from  sixteen  billion,  one  hundred  forty-four 
thousand  to  eighteen  billion,  two  hundred  forty- 
nine,  an  actual  increase  of  more  than  two  billion 
dollars;  and  the  Controller  of  the  Currency  re- 
ports that  the  total  resources  of  the  national  banks 
of  our  country  at  this  date  exceed  by  more  than 
one  billion  dollars  the  whole  world's  production 
of  gold  from  the  discovery  of  America  in  1492  up 
to  the  year  1917. 

More  wonderful  than  all,  perhaps,  is  the  fact 
that  during  the  year  1918  not  a  single  national 
bank  has  failed — a  record  equaled  only  in  1881, 
since  1870 — and  during  the  past  year  one  hun- 
dred and  six  new  charters  for  national  banks  have 
been  asked  for,  representing  a  capital  of  nine  bil- 
lion dollars  more. 

Figures  are  tiresome  things.    They  are  popu- 

[250 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

larly  supposed  to  be  utterly  incompatible  with  ro- 
mance or  imagination,  but  surely  these  figures 
stand  out  clothed  with  as  vivid  picturesqueness  as 
any  word  picture  of  the  struggle  at  the  front. 
While  our  soldiers  and  our  sailors  have  carried 
forward  our  colors  and  kept  us  magnificently  at 
war  at  the  front,  you  gentlemen,  with  equal  pa- 
triotism, have  kept  us,  financially,  magnificently 
at  peace  at  home.  For  this  we  thank  you. 

None  know  better  than  we  at  Washington  the 
value  of  your  services  or  how  impossible  our 
achievements  abroad  would  have  been  but  for 
your  help  here.  If  we  have  given  to  the  world  a 
new  conception  of  Democracy,  a  democracy  that 
is  real  and  virile  and  sincere  and  not  a  mere  hypo- 
critical cant  of  politicians  and  diplomats,  but  a 
Democracy  that  believes  in  democracy,  you  have 
on  your  part  enabled  America  to  give  the  world 
a  new  conception  of  finance,  as  unselfish,  as  patri- 
otic, as  broad  and  far-seeing,  as  pledged  to  the 
common  cause  of  humanity  as  any  of  our  other 
beliefs  or  actions,  as  perfectly  fitting  into  the  gen- 
eral example  we  have  set  of  the  same  spirit  which 
inspired  our  forefathers  in  the  creation  of  this 
republic  as  any  other  things  we  have  done  or  said 
since  this  conflict  began.  You  have  taught  the 
other  nations  that  the  American's  idea  of  his 
money,  like  his  idea  of  his  life,  is  something 
which  is  to  be  freely  and  ungrudgingly  given  for 
his  ideals  and  his  country  whenever  his  country 
calls. 

[252] 


WEALTH  ENLISTED  IN  SERVICE 

I  have  spoken,  incidentally,  of  your  own  pros- 
perous condition.  It  is  pleasant  to  think  that  vir- 
tue is  not  always  its  only  reward,  that  in  help- 
ing your  country,  I  think,  perhaps,  you  help 
yourselves.  It  is  the  silver  lining  to  our  present 
clouds,  just  as  our  boys  will  come  back  stronger, 
better,  more  efficient  men  than  they  went  forth ; 
just  as  our  manufacturers  have  learned  many 
things  which  will  make  them  far  more  efficient 
as  manufacturers  than  before  the  war  began, 
just  as  the  whole  country  will  be  a  stronger,  more 
efficient  country  than  it  ever  was  before,  so  have 
you  bankers  learned  by  actual  experience  that  in 
sacrificing  much  to  your  country,  you  have  found 
increased  ways  of  efficiency  by  which  you  may 
also  help  yourselves. 

We  are  now  starting  another  Liberty  Loan. 
We  are  relying  with  the  absolute  confidence  which 
comes  from  past  experience  upon  you  bankers  to 
make  it  an  even  greater  success  than  those  which 
have  preceded.  Splendidly  have  you  met  our 
calls  for  aid  in  the  past,  even  more  splendidly 
will  you  meet  our  call  of  the  present.  It  is 
through  you  that  our  greatest  subscriptions  have 
come ;  it  is  through  your  efforts  that  our  greatest 
subscriptions  must  come.  We  have  no  fear,  nor 
do  we  even  feel  that  we  are  obliged  to  use  any 
special  efforts  to  arouse  you  to  even  greater  ef- 
forts in  the  future.  I  do  not  intend  to  attempt 
to  spur  you  on  in  this  coming  campaign  because  I 
know  you  need  no  spurring.  I  am  trying  merely 

[253] 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

to  let  you  feel  that  what  you  have  done  has  been 
appreciated  and  will  be  appreciated ;  to  express  to 
you  so  far  as  I  can  the  feeling  of  pride,  the  feel- 
ing of  gratitude  which  the  whole  country  shares 
with  me  in  regard  to  the  bankers  of  America. 

Back  of  all  the  pride  and  pomp  of  war,  behind 
the  roar  of  guns  and  the  shouting  armies,  with  no 
Legions  of  Honor,  or  Victoria  Crosses  dangling 
in  front  of  their  eyes  as  glittering  awards,  must 
sit  in  their  quiet  counting  houses  the  controllers 
of  the  world's  finances,  and  through  anxious 
hours  and  sleepless  nights  must  they  provide 
ways  and  means  by  which  the  guns  and  armies 
may  move  forward  to  the  front.  In  this  silent, 
unpicturesque,  unheroic  struggle,  which  is  really 
our  first  line  of  defense,  we  are  now  preparing  a 
forward  movement  in  force ;  we  are  at  the  begin- 
ning of  this  Loan  Campaign,  going  over  our  ac- 
couterments,  testing  our  ammunition,  preparing, 
as  it  were,  a  sort  of  general  charge.  I  have  not 
the  slightest  doubt  but  what  at  the  very  head  of 
all  the  soldiers  in  this  assault,  we  will  see,  as 
heretofore,  our  bankers,  the  first  "over  the  top." 

Fortunately,  before  the  strain  upon  our  re- 
sources in  financing  this  expensive  war,  the  Fed- 
eral Reserve  Act  had  become  a  law  and  was  in 
successful  operation.  If  this  system  had  not  been 
created  prior  to  our  entrance  into  the  war,  the 
first  duty  of  Government  would  have  been  to  pro- 
vide the  facilities  for  buttressing  our  financial 
buildings  by  its  prompt  enactment.  It  is  the  out- 

[254] 


WEALTH  ENLISTED  IN  SERVICE 

standing  creative  constructive  act  of  this  genera- 
tion, the  perfect  product  of  the  study  of  the  needs 
of  a  sound  American  financial  policy.  Before 
that  measure  stabilized  our  financial  and  banking 
system,  periodical  panics  wrought  destruction 
when  there  was  heavy  drain  upon  our  resources, 
but  since  the  Federal  Reserve  Act  made  national 
wealth  instantly  available  to  protect  national 
credit,  there  has  been  no  hint  of  panic  or  financial 
disturbance  to  give  apprehension  to  business  men. 
Instead,  it  has  given  confidence,  promoted  enter- 
prise and  expansion,  and  been  a  foundation  of 
rock  upon  which  we  have  builded  trade  and  man- 
ufacturing expansion  unprecedented  in  history. 
It  has  enabled,  without  a  jar  or  creaking  of  the 
splendid  machines,  the  financing  of  this  war, 
which  calls  for  many  billions.  For  years,  before 
the  Federal  Reserve  law  was  devised,  the  wisest 
men  among  us  had  pointed  out  the  defects  of  our 
out-grown  financial  system  to  afford  elasticity 
and  confidence  necessary  to  business,  but  differ- 
ences of  opinion  had  delayed  action.  All  honor 
to  the  wise  men  who  drafted  the  Federal  Re- 
serve law ;  all  honor  to  the  men  who  had  the  wis- 
dom to  put  it  on  the  statute  books,  all  honor  to 
those  charged  with  its  operation  and  success! 
From  the  day  the  President  signed  that  epoch- 
making  measure  and  the  Secretary  of  the  Treas- 
ury successfully  launched  it,  the  cooperation 
and  assistance  and  wise  counsel  of  the  bankers  of 
America  has  been  hearty,  sincere  and  complete. 

[255] 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

Without  such  wise  and  helpful  cooperation  by 
the  financial  leaders  in  every  part  of  the  country 
the  system  would  not  have  translated  the  statute 
into  the  living  fountain  from  which  confidence 
and  assurance  have  sprung  to  safeguard  Ameri- 
can prosperity.  Financial  disturbances  of  other 
days  which  hung  so  often  like  a  pall  upon  the  en- 
terprise and  expansion  of  American  industry  were 
dissipated  by  this  measure  and  its  wise  operation. 

The  whole  world  recognizes  the  soundness  of 
our  system.  A  typical  expression  of  approval  was 
voiced  by  Sir  Edward  H.  Holden  of  the  London 
City  and  Midland  Bank  of  London,  England,  who 
said :  "The  United  States  has  built  up  a  banking 
system  which  surpasses  in  strength  and  excel- 
lence any  other  banking  system  in  the  world." 

Democracy  in  financing  this  war  has  illus- 
trated its  firm  hold  upon  our  country.  In  other 
wars,  when  large  loans  were  to  be  placed,  a  few 
great  bankers  were  relied  upon  by  the  Govern- 
ment to  act  as  its  fiduciary  agents.  Sometimes, 
a  single  great  banker  floated  loans,  securing,  of 
course,  the  cooperation  of  others.  In  this  day, 
when  billions  rather  than  millions  were  needed, 
the  Government  looked  with  confidence  to  all  the 
banks  to  take  the  laboring  oar,  and  in  metropolis 
and  hamlet,  they  have  safely  navigated  three 
Liberty  Loans,  and  to-night  have  launched  the 
ship  that  they  will  steer  safely  into  harbor  carry- 
ing with  it  six  billion  dollars  and  the  pledge  of  as 
much  more  as  may  be  needed  to  win  the  war. 

[256] 


XXVIII 

THE  RETURN  TO  THE  PROMISED  LAND 

The  liberation  of  Palestine,  the  beginning  of  the 
Hebrew  University  at  Jerusalem,  bears  a  promise  of 
spiritual  re-birth — not  merely  the  re-birth  of  the  Jewish 
people,  but  of  the  whole  Orient  .  .  .  the  birth  of  new 
ideals,  of  new  ethical  values,  of  new  conceptions  of  so- 
cial justice  which  shall  spring  as  a  blessing  for  all  man- 
kind from  that  land  and  that  people  whose  law-givers 
and  prophets  and  sages,  in  ancient  days  spoke  those 
truths  which  have  come  thundering  down  the  ages,  and 
which  form  the  fabric  and  foundation  of  modern  civili- 
zation. 

Zionist  Patriotic  Demonstration  to  celebrate  the  Vic- 
tory of  the  Allied  Armies  in  Palestine  and  President 
Wilson's  statement  Approving  the  Aims  of  the  Zionist 
Organisation,  New  York,  September  29,  ipi8. 

IT  was  overkind  on  the  part  of  Judge  Mack, 
and,  I  am  tempted  to  say,  an  exaggeration  of  the 
very  small  part  I  played  in  the  matter,  when,  in 
his  gracious  allusion  to  the  service  rendered  in 
the  Spring  of  1915  by  the  United  States,  through 
their  navy,  to  the  Jewish  people,  he  has  thought 
fit  to  award  to  me  the  credit  for  an  act  which  was 
participated  in  joyfully  by  the  whole  American 
people.  The  more  so,  because  in  dispatching  the 
Vulcan  to  Palestine  with  a  cargo  of  food  sup- 

[257] 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

plies,  we  are  bringing  succor  to  a  people  who 
had  become  victims  of  the  war,  not  because  of 
any  fault  of  their  own,  not  even  because,  like  the 
people  of  outraged  Belgium,  they  happened  to 
be  standing  in  the  path  which  the  monster  Prus- 
sian chose  to  tread  in  order  to  win  a  speedy  vic- 
tory in  his  foul  design  to  conquer  Europe,  to  con- 
quer, indeed,  the  whole  world. 

The  Jews  of  Palestine  seemed  remote  from  the 
theater  of  war.  Only  those  who  might  have  been 
in  the  confidence  of  Wilhelmstrasse  could  have 
imagined  that  eventually  that  land  would  be 
drawn  in,  and  would  become  one  of  the  most  glo- 
rious scenes  in  the  universal  war-theater.  Allenby 
was  to  come  later ;  but  that  was  still  on  the  knees 
of  the  gods.  But,  with  the  outbreak  of  the  war, 
Palestine  was  besieged  and  blockaded.  All  roads, 
over  land  or  sea,  leading  from  it  to  civilization 
were  suddenly  closed,  and  its  people  destined,  so 
it  seemed,  to  speedy  annihilation  from  hunger 
and  disease.  The  civilized  world,  which  had 
rushed  to  the  rescue  of  Belgium,  was  dismayed 
by  this  impending  tragedy — the  imminent  doom 
of  a  people  who,  inspired  by  love  of  that  land 
which  in  days  of  yore  had  been  their  very  own, 
had  returned  thither,  to  build  anew  somewhat  of 
its  ancient  glories,  and,  amidst  hallowed  mem- 
ories, to  find  peace  and  the  privilege  of  self-ex- 
pression. 

Palestine,  for  all  times  the  beloved  of  the  three 
great  religions,  the  cradle  of  liberty  and  civili- 

[258] 


RETURN  TO  THE  PROMISED  LAND 

zation,  had  just  begun  to  emerge  from  the  pages 
of  history  and  to  take  its  new  place  in  the 
thoughts  of  forward-looking  men  and  women. 
The  wonderful  story  of  the  Jewish  pioneers  who, 
out  of  the  swamp  and  the  desert,  in  the  face  of 
death  by  withering  heat  and  savage  marauders, 
had  built  up  half  a  hundred  colonies,  had  begun 
the  development  of  a  new  Jewish  culture  based 
on  what  was  best  of  the  ancient  Hebrew  culture, 
plus  the  Jewish  experiences  of  the  past  two  thou- 
sand years — this  Palestine,  to  which  the  whole 
world  was  beginning  to  look  with  sympathy  and 
enthusiasm,  was  apparently  about  to  become  the 
grave  of  the  noblest  effort  in  which  a  people  could 
be  engaged. 

To  America,  which  has  found  inspiration  in 
the  ancient  Hebraic  ideals,  in  the  ethical  prin- 
ciples of  the  ancient  Hebrew  lawgiver  and  the 
Hebrew  prophets,  the  peril  confronting  Palestine 
caused  the  greatest  pain.  And  I  knew  that  the 
American  people  would  gladly  do  whatever  might 
lie  in  their  power  to  rescue  it  from  the  disaster 
to  which  it  seemed  about  to  succumb. 

At  the  same  time,  let  me  now  record  my  keen 
disappointment  that  circumstances  soon  shaped 
themselves  so  as  to  make  it  impossible  for  me  to 
realize  the  fond  hope  I  entertained  at  that  time, 
and  which  I  often  expressed  to  your  representa- 
tives who  came  to  see  me  so  frequently  during  the 
days  of  preparation  for  the  Vulcan's  relief- 
mission,  that  her  trip  would  not  be  an  isolated 

[259] 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

one.  But  if  this  hope  was  to  remain  unrealized, 
yet  it  became  possible  to  use  the  United  States 
Navy  for  another  demonstration  of  friendship 
for  the  Jews  of  Palestine.  Quite  providentially 
the  Cruiser  Tennessee  was  in  Mediterranean 
waters  when  the  Turkish  government  decreed  the 
banishment  of  some  8,000  Jews  who  had  refused 
to  become  Ottoman  subjects.  Who  knows  what 
would  have  been  the  fate  of  these  brave  men 
and  women,  who  dared  the  wrath  that  their 
staunch  refusal  had  aroused,  if  Captain  Decker, 
hardly  waiting  for  approval  of  his  plan,  had  not 
rushed  to  Jaffa  and,  transforming  his  cruiser  into 
a  ferry-boat,  made  a  half-dozen  trips  to  Alexan- 
dria and  back,  until  every  man,  woman  and  child 
who  wished  to  go  had  found  safety? 

If,  by  virtue  of  the  accidental  fact  that  I  hap- 
pened to  be  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  these  acts 
came  under  my  jurisdiction,  it  does  not  seem  to 
me  that  I  need  be  made  the  object  of  words  of 
praise  and  gratitude.  Rather,  it  is  I  who  should 
express  gratitude  to  the  kind  fates  that  made  it 
possible  for  me  to  be  the  instrument  through 
which  the  American  people  acted.  And  it  is  a 
pleasant  memory  to  me  that  I  had  the  privilege  of 
taking  the  official  steps  in  the  first  concrete  acts 
whereby  Americans  indicated  their  thorough 
sympathy  with  and  approval  of  the  efforts  to  es- 
tablish, in  Palestine,  a  national  homeland  for  the 
Jewish  people. 

But  if  in  your  judgment  some  one  must  be 
[260] 


RETURN  TO  THE  PROMISED  LAND 

found  to  whom  credit  for  these  acts  must  be  giv- 
en, it  is  not  to  me  it  should  be  tendered,  but  to 
that  defender  of  the  rights  of  the  smaller  nation- 
alities to  lead  their  own  lives  and  develop,  un- 
hindered, their  own  culture,  to  that  man  who  has 
put  the  seal  of  American  approval  on  the  Zion- 
ist movement,  to  the  world-leader  and  President 
— Woodrow  Wilson! 

Let  my  presence  here  to-night  testify  to  my 
great  pleasure  that  President  Wilson  has  finally 
uttered  the  word  that  you  have  been  waiting  so 
long,  so  eagerly  to  hear,  the  word  which  by  your 
sacrifices,  by  your  devotion  to  your  history  and 
traditions,  by  your  staunchness  to  the  cause  of 
humanity,  by  your  loyalty  to  the  cause  of  Amer- 
ica and  its  associates  in  this  war,  you  have  so  well 
deserved  to  hear.  President  Wilson  in  his  letter 
to  that  splendid  Afherican,  Rabbi  Wise,  spoke  for 
the  whole  American  people  when  he  expressed  his 
satisfaction  with  the  progress  of  the  Zionist 
movement  in  this  and  in  allied  countries.  And  it 
is  characteristic  of  the  man,  of  his  thoughtful- 
ness  and  his  delicacy  of  feeling,  that  he  timed  his 
message  of  approval  with  the  advent  of  the  Jew- 
ish New  Year.  Thus  he,  speaking  for  all  of  us, 
for  the  whole  American  people,  expressed  our 
hope  that  this  new  year  which  has  just  begun  for 
you  should  bring  to  you  that  greatest  happiness 
for  which  you  have  prayed  during  the  centuries : 
the  end  of  your  homelessness,  the  beginning  of  a 
new  life  for  the  Jews  as  one  of  the  great  family 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

of   free,  enlightened  and  enlightening  peoples. 

It  was  with  this  same  delicacy  of  feeling,  that 
rare  and  keen  perception  of  the  higher  values  of 
human  endeavor,  that  President  Wilson  predi- 
cated his  letter  on  the  fine  achievements  of  the 
Weisman  Commission,  with  especial  reference 
to  the  laying  of  the  corner-stone  of  the  Hebrew 
University  on  the  Mount  of  Olives  when  he 
wrote :  "I  think  that  all  Americans  will  be  deeply 
moved  by  the  report  that  even  in  this  time  of 
stress  the  Weisman  commission  has  been  able  to 
lay  the  foundation  of  the  Hebrew  University  at 
Jerusalem  with  the  promise  that  bears  of  spiritual 
rebirth." 

The  beginning  of  the  Hebrew  University  bears 
a  promise  of  spiritual  rebirth — not  merely  the 
spiritual  rebirth  of  the  Jewish  people,  but  of  the 
whole  Orient.  I  recall  the  visionings  of  Sir  Mark 
Sykes  at  the  great  demonstration  in  London  fol- 
lowing the  Balfour  declaration,  when,  prophesy- 
ing for  the  near  future,  he  saw  a  new  entente, 
a  new  United  States  of  the  Near  East,  composed 
of  the  Arabs,  the  Armenians  and  the  Jews,  com- 
bining to  give  to  the  Orient  a  new  culture,  a  new 
civilization,  and  making  of  it  a  guarantor  of 
world-peace.  And  not  only  the  spiritual  rebirth 
of  the  Orient,  but  the  birth  of  new  ideals,  of  new 
ethical  values,  of  new  conceptions  of  social  jus- 
tice which  shall  spring  as  a  blessing  for  all  man- 
kind from  that  land  and  that  people  whose  law- 
givers and  prophets  and  sages,  in  ancient  days, 

[262] 


RETURN  TO  THE  PROMISED  LAND 

spoke  those  truths  which  have  come  thundering 
down  the  ages,  and  which  form  the  fabric  and 
the  foundation  of  modern  civilization.  Who 
knows  but  what  in  modern  Judea,  whose  every 
hill  and  valley  rings  with  the  imperishable  utter- 
ances of  an  Isaiah  and  a  Jeremiah,  of  a  Micah 
and  an  Amos,  there  may  not  be  born  some  new 
truth  to  bless  the  world  and  lead  mankind  to  even 
greater  heights  than  it  has  already  attained. 

And  now  Palestine  is  liberated!  The  brave 
troops  of  our  noble  ally,  Great  Britain,  have 
swept  the  country  clean  of  the  foe.  The  sweep- 
ing victory  of  General  Allenby  has  finally  cleared 
the  way  for  you  to  go  on  with  the  great  work 
which  you  have  undertaken — the  establishment 
in  Palestine  of  a  National  Jewish  Homeland. 
The  full  significance  of  the  words  uttered  on 
November  2nd  last  by  the  Rt.  Hon.  Arthur  J. 
Balfour,  British  Foreign  Secretary,  and  now  so 
nobly  echoed  by  President  Wilson — "that  the 
British  Government  will  use  its  best  endeavors  to 
facilitate  the  achievement  of  that  object" — is 
daily  becoming  clearer.  England  has  not  been 
sparing  of  its  blood  for  the  sake  of  redeeming  its 
pledge  to  right  the  historic  wrong  that  the  world 
has  meted  out  to  the  Jewish  people.  Our  other 
allies,  France  and  Italy  and  Serbia  and  Greece, 
have  approved  and  endorsed  the  pledge  by  Great 
Britain,  and  when  this  war  ends  and  the  peace 
council  meets,  you  may  be  sure  that  America,  de- 
fender of  the  weak  and  the  oppressed,  will  be  as 

[263] 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

outspoken  in  the  Jewish  behalf  as  have  been  any 
of  our  allies. 

Now  the  opportunity  is  yours.  It  is  for  you  to 
establish  the  homeland  you  dream  of.  The  na- 
tions of  the  world  can  do  no  more  than  give  you 
leave,  then  guarantee  to  you  that  your  efforts 
shall  not  be  in  vain.  But  the  effort  must  be 
yours.  The  liberation  of  Palestine  is  the  sum- 
mons to  you  to  go  to  work  and  build  well  and 
nobly.  So  you  have  begun.  Your  colonies,  your 
urban  settlements,  your  financial  institutions, 
your  educational  system,  your  university,  your 
fine  attitude  toward  your  neighbors,  these  are 
noble  beginnings,  and  upon  them  I  am  sure  you 
will  rear  a  structure  which  will  be  a  blessing  for- 
ever to  you  and  all  mankind. 

But  your  hopes  for  a  national  future,  and  the 
hopes  of  the  other  smaller  nationalities,  as  well 
as  of  all  forward-looking  humanity  will  be  in 
vain,  will  be  crushed  beyond  resurrection,  unless 
America  and  its  allies  are  victorious.  By  the 
blood  of  our  martyrs  and  heroes  let  us  dedicate 
ourselves  anew  to  the  cause  which  means  so  much 
to  all  of  us.  Not  until  Germany  has  been  utterly 
defeated,  not  until  the  brutal  Prussians,  the  Ho- 
henzollerns  and  Hindenburgs  and  Ludendorffs 
and  Von  Tirpitzes,  have  been  humbled  in  the 
sight  of  God  and  man,  and  sue  for  a  peace  that 
shall  be  made  in  Germany  but  not  by  the  Ger- 
mans, not  until  then  shall  we  pause. 

We  are  summoned  to  give  of  ourselves  and  of 

[264] 


RETURN  TO  THE  PROMISED  LAND 

our  treasure,  to  pledge  our  lives,  our  sacred  honor 
and  our  fortunes  to  this  cause.  And  in  the  vic- 
tory of  the  forces  of  freedom,  to  which  you  have 
contributed  so  many  thousands  of  men  and  so 
many  millions  of  money,  you,  like  the  rest  of  hu- 
manity, will  attain  your  highest  dreams  and  real- 
ize your  highest  hopes. 


[265] 


XXIX 

A  PEACE  OF  JUSTICE,  NOT  REVENGE 

We  have  won  the  Great  War.  Let  us  now  proceed  to 
win  the  Greater  Peace. 

This  European  Revolution  has  ushered  in  a  new 
world.  It  must  somehow  be  made  a  world  of  justice 
and  opportunity  to  all  classes  of  men,  and  from  it  must 
somehow  be  obliterated  the  temptations  and  ambitions 
that  prove  and  cause  aggression  and  war. 

Community  Thanksgiving  Service,  Buffalo,  N.  Y.t  No- 
vember 28,  ipi8. 

WE  are  here  to-day  to  render  thanks  to  the  God 
of  Nations  for  the  widest  victory  ever  achieved 
by  the  forces  of  freedom;  to  take  counsel  how  a 
peace  won  by  so  much  valor  and  sacrifice  may 
long  endure ;  to  acclaim  with  our  spirits  the  brave 
dead  who  lie  under  the  white  crosses  on  the  plains 
of  France  and  Flanders,  and  those  who  found 
sepulcher  under  the  sea. 

There  pass,  too,  before  our  minds  the  stark 
heroism  of  the  Belgians,  preferring  annihilation 
to  dishonor ;  the  flaming  patriotism  and  valor  of 
France;  the  constancy  and  might  of  Great  Brit- 
ain; the  steadfastness  of  Italy,  whom  the  storm 
could  batter  but  could  not  break ;  the  heroism  and 
contributions  of  Japan  and  Serbia  and  Roumania 

[266] 


A  PEACE  OF  JUSTICE,  NOT  REVENGE 

and  Greece  and  Portugal ;  the  sympathies  of  our 
loyal  neighbors  of  Latin-America  and  the  glori- 
ous purpose  to  be  free  of  the  great  Jewish  and 
Slavic  peoples  righting  to  emancipate  themselves 
from  centuries  of  bondage  and  shackles.  Thanks 
be  to  God,  as  our  great  President  so  simply  said, 
"the  war  thus  comes  to  an  end."  It  is  almost  a 
platitude  to  characterize  it  as  the  costliest,  cruel- 
est,  fiercest  struggle  of  modern  history,  perhaps 
of  all  time;  involving  twenty-eight  nations,  de- 
stroying two  hundred  billions  of  treasure,  sacri- 
ficing ten  millions  of  lives,  wounding  twenty  mil- 
lions and  bringing  loss  and  suffering  to  every 
land  and  people. 

It  is  now  as  clear  as  crystal  how  this  war  be- 
gan. A  great  nation  strong  in  physical  force  and 
organizing  genius  ruled  by  an  irresponsible  auto- 
cratic government  deliberately  willed  this  war  as 
a  means  of  enlarging  its  territory  and  widening 
its  dominion.  It  was  a  nation  that  had  thriven 
by  war  as  a  national  industry  and  its  leaders  had 
reached  the  mad  conclusion  that  its  destiny  was 
world-power  or  downfall,  and  that  all  laws  inter- 
national or  moral  were  subservient  to  this  grand- 
iose purpose.  Relying  upon  the  unmilitary  organ- 
ization of  democracy,  this  nation,  armed  to  the 
teeth,  sprang  upon  the  world  with  the  intent  of 
forcing  upon  mankind  its  peculiar  system  of  life, 
political,  social  and  economic.  To  these  masters  of 
German  policy  "democracy  was  a  thing  infirm 
of  purpose,  jealous,  timid,  changeable,  unthor- 

[267] 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

ough,  without  foresight,  blundering  along  in  an 
age  of  lucidity  guided  by  confused  instincts." 
To  them  the  supreme  human  conception  was  not 
religion,  nor  love,  nor  God,  but  the  State  organ- 
ized for  power,  and  the  supreme  social  duty  was 
obedience  to  that  power.  And  so,  once  more  in 
the  great  human  story  the  issue  was  made  up 
between  contrasting  civilizations,  between  ideals 
and  institutions,  between  freedom  and  force. 

It  has  been  a  long  dark  night  through  which 
the  world  has  passed.  This  war  soon  showed  it- 
self to  be  a  war  not  of  dynasties  but  of  whole 
peoples,  a  war  of  systems,  not  of  armies  alone, 
a  war  between  Christian  civilization  and  a  creed 
of  tribal  gods.  Never  before  in  human  affairs 
has  the  issue  been  so  clearly  drawn  between  the 
force  that  is  called  moral  and  the  force  that  is 
merely  physical  or  unmoral,  and  we  are  thanking 
God  to-day  that  His  divine  law  of  morality  is  the 
sign  in  the  heavens  by  which  we  have  conquered 
and  shall  conquer.  The  time  had  apparently 
come  in  the  affairs  of  men  when  the  decision 
must  be  made  between  democracy  and  autocracy 
as  the  ruling  and  guiding  principle  in  the  social 
order.  And  democracy,  that  divine  gospel  which 
Christ  taught,  has  won.  The  theory  that  every 
man  in  the  world,  high  or  low,  rich  or  poor,  shall 
have  a  chance  to  make  the  most  of  himself  is  now 
the  fixed  philosophy  of  all  nations;  and  never 
again,  I  venture  to  assert,  will  the  false  philoso- 
phy that  men  exist  to  serve  a  state  ruled  despot- 

[268] 


A  PEACE  OF  JUSTICE,  NOT  REVENGE 

ically  drag  great  peoples  to  their  doom.  There 
have  been  wars  like  the  upheaval  of  the  Reforma- 
tion that  won  for  mankind  freedom  of  conscience; 
like  the  French  Revolution  that  gained  for 
men  political  liberty;  like  the  American  Revo- 
lution that  won  national  independence.  This 
war,  colossal  in  all  its  aspects,  has  been  a  war  of 
liberation  not  alone  for  the  settled  governments 
and  empires  whose  systems  of  life  were  threat- 
ened but  for  the  submerged  races  who  have  lived 
for  ages  under  alien  control  but  who  shall  now 
have  the  chance  to  determine  thei:  lives  and  fix 
their  destinies  by  their  own  wisdom  and  their 
own  choice.  What  has  happened  during  this  fate- 
ful autumn  baffles  the  imagination  and  almost 
confounds  the  comprehension  of  the  mind  of 
man.  We  have  seen  the  myth  of  Teutonic  mili- 
tary invincibility  exploded,  the  empire  of  Bis- 
marck dissolved,  and  a  Socialist  harness-maker 
seated  in  the  chair  of  the  Iron  Chancellor.  The 
Austrian  mosaic  has  disintegrated,  Turkey  and 
Bulgaria  are  broken  to  pieces.  New  nations  have 
sprung  into  life  and  ancient  kingdoms  like  Poland 
are  reshaping  themselves  in  forms  of  freedom. 
The  Hohenzollerns  and  the  Hapsburgs,  if  they 
have  not  literally  followed  Henry  Watterson's 
injunction,  have  scurried  as  unwelcome  guests 
into  foreign  asylums.  The  gray  ships  of  Great 
Britain  and  other  allied  nations  receive  the  sur- 
render of  the  navy  of  the  proud  empire  whose 
future  their  emperor  declared  to  be  on  the 

[269] 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

water.  France — glorious,  immortal  France — 
has  rewon  the  love  of  the  world  and  established 
itself  in  a  glory  before  which  its  Napoleonic 
grandeur  fades,  and  American  soldiers  with  as 
fine  motives  as  ever  influenced  an  old  crusader, 
with  no  selfish  ends  in  view,  no  territory  to  win, 
no  glory  to  gain  save  the  glory  of  freedom  de- 
fended, stand,  triumphant  but  unstained  by  hate 
or  rapine,  at  the  passes  of  the  Rhine.  I  can  ac- 
count for  the  almost  unbelievable  completeness 
of  this  vast  victory  only  on  the  ground  that  Al- 
mighty God,  knowing  that  this  issue  was  between 
everlasting  right  and  everlasting  wrong,  threw 
into  the  scales  His  omnipotent  weight  and  en- 
dowed the  soldiers  and  sailors  of  freedom  with 
power  to  prevail. 

I  do  not  need  to  tell  such  a  company  as  this  that 
our  country  did  not  lightly  enter  this  war.  Its 
traditions  and  ideals  were  against  foreign  en- 
tanglements. Its  preoccupation  was  peace.  Its 
President  was  a  man  of  ideals  but  also  of  prac- 
tical world  vision.  He  loved  peace  but  only  a 
peace  that  left  national  honor  and  national  sov- 
ereignty unviolated.  Germany's  masters  left  us 
no  choice.  It  was  war  or  dishonor  and  menace  to 
our  liberties.  And  so  we  chose  war,  and  though 
it  has  not  been  ours  to  tread  the  long,  rough  road 
of  our  heroic  Allies,  we  got  there  in  time  and  we 
got  there  in  force  and  our  sacrifices  have  known 
no  stint  or  limit.  Our  men  on  land  and  sea  have 
put  a  new  glory  on  the  flag  we  love.  The  home 

[270] 


A  PEACE  OF  JUSTICE,  NOT  REVENGE 

front  has  stood  like  a  rock  behind  its  fighting 
forces,  and  it  is  my  judgment  that  unbiased  his- 
tory will  record  that  no  government  ever  put 
forth  a  mightier  and  more  fruitful  effort  than  the 
United  States  of  America  under  the  leadership 
of  Woodrow  Wilson  in  the  one  year  and  seven 
months  of  its  participation  in  the  World  War  of 
1914-1918. 

And  so  I  think  I  may  properly  claim  that  the 
free  peoples  of  the  world  by  the  might  of  great 
fortitude  and  resourcefulness  and  courage  have 
indeed  made  the  world  safe  for  democracy  in  the 
sense  that  it  has  proved  that  democracy  is  not 
an  optimistic  dream,  but  a  concrete  force  able 
to  protect  itself  against  tyranny  and  aggres- 
sion and  powerful  enough  to  substitute  as  nation- 
al ideals  its  tenets  of  freedom  and  opportunity  as 
opposed  to  those  of  personal  government  and 
despotic  force. 

It  now  remains  to  make  democracy  safe  for 
the  world  by  defining  its  ends,  clarifying  its  pur- 
poses, and  enacting  into  law  its  essential  ideals. 
And  herein  lies  the  path  to  just,  honorable,  and 
enduring  peace.  We  have  won  the  Great  War. 
Let  us  now  proceed  to  win  the  Greater  Peace. 
As  Abraham  Lincoln  nobly  said  in  his  second  In- 
augural :  "Let  us  strive  on  to  finish  the  work  we 
are  in ;  to  bind  up  the  nation's  wounds,  to  care  for 
him  who  shall  have  borne  the  battle,  and  for  his 
widow  and  his  orphan — to  do  all  which  mav 

[271] 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

achieve  a  just  and  lasting  peace  among  ourselves 
and  all  nations." 

This  European  Revolution  has  ushered  in  a 
new  world.  It  must  somehow  be  made  a  world  of 
justice  and  opportunity  to  all  classes  of  men  and 
from  it  must  somehow  be  obliterated  the  tempta- 
tions and  ambitions  that  provoke  and  cause  ag- 
gression and  war.  There  is  first  and  foremost, 
the  domestic  situation  most  intimately  touching 
us  all,  which  has  for  its  problems  the  right  edu- 
cation of  the  people,  for  if  you  do  not  educate  a 
democracy  you  will  soon  have  no  democracy  to 
educate;  the  just  rewards  and  opportunities  of 
labor,  protection  to  the  weak  as  truly  as  we  pro- 
tect the  strong,  fair  systems  of  taxation,  and  the 
maintenance  of  such  establishments  of  force  as 
will  guarantee  freedom  without  suggesting  any 
monstrous  form  of  democratic  imperialism. 
There  is,  secondly,  the  world  situation  soon  to 
be  considered  in  a  World  Congress  which  has  for 
its  problem  the  building  of  a  new  European  civ- 
ilization based  on  justice  and  self-determination. 
The  least  of  its  problems  will  be  the  mere  settle- 
ment with  Germany.  It  is  true  that  Germany 
lies  before  the  Congress,  broken  in  her  pride  and 
suffering  a  humiliation  due  to  her  folly  unex- 
ampled in  modern  history.  She  must  be  dealt 
with  firmly,  for  the  sins  of  her  rulers  and  all  who 
followed  their  spirit  are  black  and  bitter,  and  her 
crimes  deserve  such  treatment  and  such  punish- 
ment as  will  protect  the  future.  But  no  policy  of 

[272] 


A  PEACE  OF  JUSTICE,  NOT  REVENGE 

hatred,  no  spirit  of  vengeance,  should  guide  this 
world  renewal.  The  protection  of  women  and 
children  knows  no  friends  and  no  enemies.  The 
rebirth  of  modern  civilization  should  not  go  for- 
ward under  any  spell  of  mere  revenge  or  malice 
to  millions  of  men.  Principle  and  justice,  touched 
with  mercy  to  the  weak,  should  guide  this  Con- 
gress, not  passion  or  emotion. 

One  hundred  and  five  years  ago  the  Napoleonic 
world  lay  in  ruins.  The  Congress  of  Vienna  met 
to  compose  and  readjust  the  nations.  Brilliant 
men  constituted  its  membership,  but  it  lives  in 
history  as  the  meanest  and  unworthiest  assem- 
blage of  men  who  ever  undertook  a  mighty  task, 
and  in  its  sordid  decisions  lay  the  seeds  of  this 
great  struggle  through  which  we  have  just 
passed.  It,  too,  had  a  principle  of  guidance  and 
stuck  to  it  to  the  bitter  end.  Monarchy,  the 
divine  right  of  rulers,  men  and  nations  as  pawns 
in  a  gigantic  "swap"  or  trade  informed  its  coun- 
cils. Let  us  thank  God  on  this  ancient  festival 
day  that  the  principle  of  the  Congress  of  Paris 
will  be  the  rights  and  welfare  of  all  peoples  how- 
ever small  or  however  great,  the  eternal  political 
truth  that  all  governments  derive  their  just  pow- 
ers from  the  consent  of  the  governed  and  the 
faith  that  the  free  peoples  of  the  earth,  especially 
those  great  nations  which  have  welded  their 
friendship  into  everlasting  sympathy  and  under- 
standing in  the  fires  of  common  sacrifice  and 
struggle,  are  ripe  enough  in  political  wisdom  and 

[273] 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

sound  enough  of  heart  to  form  a  Federation  of 
Justice  which  shall  be  able  to  ensure  progress  and 
guarantee  freedom  among  all  men  throughout 
the  world. 


[274] 


XXX 

THE   MARINES  AT   CHATEAU-THIERRY 

More  than  faithful  in  every  emergency,  accepting  hard- 
ships with  admirable  morale,  proud  of  the  honor  of  tak- 
ing their  place  as  shock  troops  for  the  American  legions, 
they  have  fulfilled  every  glorious  tradition  of  their  corps, 
and  they  have  given  to  the  world  a  list  of  heroes  whose 
names  will  go  down  to  all  history. 

Annual  Report  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  Decem- 
ber i,  1918. 

THAT  efficient  fighting,  building,  and  landing 
force  of  the  Navy,  the  Marine  Corps,  has  won 
imperishable  glory  in  the  fulfillment  of  its  latest 
duties  upon  the  battle-fields  of  France,  where  the 
Marines,  fighting  for  the  time  under  General 
Pershing  as  a  part  of  the  victorious  American 
Army,  have  written  a  story  of  valor  and  sacrifice 
that  will  live  in  the  brightest  annals  of  the  war. 
With  heroism  that  nothing  could  daunt,  the  Ma- 
rine Corps  played  a  vital  role  in  stemming  the 
German  rush  on  Paris,  and  in  later  days  aided  in 
the  beginning  of  the  great  offensive,  the  freeing 
of  Rheims,  and  participated  in  the  hard  fighting 
in  Champagne,  which  had  as  its  object  the  throw- 
ing back  of  the  Prussian  armies  in  the  vicinity  of 
Cambrai  and  St.  Quentin. 

[275] 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

With  only  8,000  men  engaged  in  the  fiercest 
battles,  the  Marine  Corps  casualties  numbered  69 
officers  and  1,531  enlisted  men  dead  and  78  offi- 
cers and  2,435  enlisted  men  wounded  seriously 
enough  to  be  officially  reported  by  cablegram,  to 
which  number  should  be  added  not  a  few  whose 
wounds  did  not  incapacitate  them  for  further 
fighting.  However,  with  a  casualty  list  that 
numbers  nearly  half  the  original  8,000  men  who 
entered  battle,  the  official  reports  account  for 
only  57  United  States  Marines  who  have  been 
captured  by  the  enemy.  This  includes  those  who 
were  wounded  far  in  advance  of  their  lines  and 
who  fell  into  the  hands  of  Germans  while  unable 
to  resist. 

Memorial  Day  shall  henceforth  have  a  greater, 
deeper  significance  for  America,  for  it  was  on 
that  day,  May  30,  1918,  that  our  country  really 
received  its  first  call  to  battle — the  battle  in  which 
American  troops  had  the  honor  of  stopping  the 
German  drive  on  Paris,  throwing  back  the  Prus- 
sian hordes  in  attack  after  attack,  and  beginning 
the  retreat  which  lasted  until  Imperial  Germany 
was  beaten  to  its  knees  and  its  emissaries  appeal- 
ing for  an  armistice  under  the  flag  of  truce.  And 
to  the  United  States  marines,  fighting  side  by  side 
with  equally  brave  and  equally  courageous  men 
in  the  American  Army,  to  that  faithful  sea  and 
land  force  oi  the  Navy,  fell  the  honor  of  taking 
over  the  lines  where  the  blow  of  the  Prussian 
would  strike  the  hardest,  the  line  that  was  near- 

[276] 


MARINES  AT  CHATEAU-THIERRY 

est  Paris  and  where,  should  a  breach  occur,  all 
would  be  lost.  The  world  knows  to-day  that  the 
United  States  Marines  held  that  line;  that  they 
blocked  the  advance  that  was  rolling  on  toward 
Paris  at  a  rate  of  6  or  7  miles  a  day;  that  they 
met  the  attack  in  American  fashion  and  with 
American  heroism ;  that  Marines  and  soldiers  of 
the  American  Army  threw  back  the  crack  guard 
divisions  of  Germany,  broke  their  advance,  and 
then,  attacking,  drove  them  back  in  the  beginning 
of  a  retreat  that  was  not  to  end  until  the  "cease 
firing"  signal  sounded  for  the  end  of  the  world's 
greatest  war. 

It  was  on  the  evening  of  May  30,  after  a  day 
dedicated  to  the  memory  of  their  comrades  who 
had  fallen  in  the  training  days  and  in  the  Verdun 
sector,  that  the  Fifth  and  Sixth  Regiments  and 
the  Sixth  Machine  Gun  Battalion,  United  States 
Marines,  each  received  the  following  orders : 

Advance  information  official  received  that  this  regi- 
ment will  move  at  10  p.  m.  30  May  by  bus  to  new  area. 
All  trains  shall  be  loaded  at  once  and  arrangements 
hastened.  Wagons,  when  loaded,  will  move  to  Serans  to 
form  train. 

All  through  the  night  there  was  fevered  activ- 
ity among  the  Marines.  Then,  the  next  morn- 
ing, the  long  trains  of  camions,  busses,  and 
trucks,  each  carrying  its  full  complement  of 
United  States  Marines,  went  forward  on  a  road 
which  at  one  place  wound  within  less  than  10 

[277] 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

miles  of  Paris,  toward  Meaux  and  the  fighting 
line. 

Through  the  town  of  Meaux  went  the  long  line 
of  camions  and  to  the  village  of  Montriel-aux- 
Lions,  less  than  4  miles  from  the  rapidly  advanc- 
ing German  line.  On  this  trip  the  camions  con- 
taining the  Americans  were  the  only  traffic  trav- 
eling in  the  direction  of  the  Germans ;  everything 
else  was  going  the  other  way — refugees,  old  men 
and  women,  small  children,  riding  on  every  con- 
ceivable conveyance,  many  trudging  along  the 
side  of  the  road  driving  a  cow  or  calf  before 
them,  all  of  them  covered  with  the  white  dust 
which  the  camion  caravan  was  whirling  up  as  it 
rolled  along;  along  that  road  only  one  organiza- 
tion was  advancing,  the  United  States  Marines. 

At  last,  their  destination  reached  early  on  the 
morning  of  June  2,  they  disembarked,  stiff  and 
tired  after  a  journey  of  more  than  72  miles,  but 
as  they  formed  their  lines  and  marched  onward  in 
the  direction  of  the  line  they  were  to  hold  they 
were  determined  and  cheerful.  That  evening 
the  first  field  message  from  the  Fourth  Brigade 
to  Major  General  Omar  Bundy,  commanding  the 
Second  Division,  went  forward: 

Second  Battalion,  Sixth  Marines,  in  line  from  Le 
Thiolet  through  Clarembauts  Woods  to  Triangle  to  Lucy. 
Instructed  to  hold  line.  First  Battalion,  Sixth  Marines, 
going  into  line  from  Lucy  through  Hill  142.  Third  Bat- 
talion in  suport  at  La  Voie  du  Chatel,  which  is  also 
the  post  command  of  the  Sixth  Marines.  Sixth  ma- 
chine-gun battalion  distributed  at  line. 

[278] 


MARINES  AT  CHATEAU-THIERRY 

Meanwhile  the  Fifth  Regiment  was  moving 
into  line,  machine  guns  were  advancing,  and  the 
artillery  taking  its  position.  That  night  the  men 
and  officers  of  the  Marines  slept  in  the  open, 
many  of  them  in  a  field  that  was  green  with  un- 
harvested  wheat,  awaiting  the  time  when  they 
should  be  summoned  to  battle.  The  next  day  at 
5  o'clock,  the  afternoon  of  June  2,  began  the 
battle  of  Chateau-Thierry,  with  the  Americans 
holding  the  line  against  the  most  vicious  wedge 
of  the  German  advance. 

The  advance  of  the  Germans  was  across  a 
wheat  field,  driving  at  Hill  165  and  advancing  in 
smooth  columns.  The  United  States  Marines, 
trained  to  keen  observation  upon  the  rifle  range, 
nearly  every  one  of  them  wearing  a  marksman's 
medal  or  better,  that  of  the  sharpshooter  or  ex- 
pert rifleman,  did  not  wait  for  those  gray-clad 
hordes  to  advance  nearer.  Calmly  they  set  their 
sights  and  aimed  with  the  same  precision  that 
they  had  shown  upon  the  rifle  ranges  at  Paris 
Island,  Mare  Island,  and  Quantico.  Incessantly 
their  rifles  cracked,  and  with  their  fire  came  the 
support  of  the  artillery.  The  machine-gun  fire, 
incessant  also,  began  to  make  its  inroads  upon  the 
advancing  forces.  Closer  and  closer  the  shrapnel 
burst  to  its  targets.  Caught  in  a  seething  wave 
of  machine-gun  fire,  of  scattering  shrapnel,  of 
accurate  rifle  fire,  the  Germans  found  themselves 
in  a  position  in  which  further  advance  could  only 
mean  absolute  suicide.  The  lines  hesitated. 

[279] 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

They  stopped.  They  broke  for  cover,  while  the 
Marines  raked  the  woods  and  ravines  in  which 
they  had  taken  refuge  with  machine  gun  and  rifle 
to  prevent  them  making  another  attempt  to  ad- 
vance by  infiltrating  through.  Above,  a  French 
airplane  was  checking  up  on  the  artillery  fire. 
Surprised  by  the  fact  that  men  should  deliberately 
set  their  sights,  adjust  their  range,  and  then  fire 
deliberately  at  an  advancing  foe,  each  man  pick- 
ing his  target,  instead  of  firing  merely  in  the  di- 
rection of  the  enemy,  the  aviator  signaled  below 
"Bravo!"  In  the  rear  that  word  was  echoed 
again  and  again.  The  German  drive  on  Paris 
had  been  stopped. 

For  the  next  few  days  the  fighting  took  on  the 
character  of  pushing  forth  outposts  and  deter- 
mining the  strength  of  the  enemy.  Now,  the 
fighting  had  changed.  The  Germans,  mystified 
that  they  should  have  run  against  a  stone  wall  of 
defense  just  when  they  believed  that  their  ad- 
vance would  be  easiest,  had  halted,  amazed ;  then 
prepared  to  defend  the  positions  they  had  won 
with  all  the  stubbornness  possible.  In  the  black 
recesses  of  Belleau  Wood  the  Germans  had  es- 
tablished nest  after  nest  of  machine  guns.  There 
in  the  jungle  of  matted  underbrush,  of  vines,  of 
heavy  foliage,  they  had  placed  themselves  in  posi- 
tions they  believed  impregnable.  And  this  meant 
that  unless  they  could  be  routed,  unless  they 
could  be  thrown  back,  the  breaking  of  the  attack 
of  June  2  would  mean  nothing.  There  would 

[280] 


MARINES  AT  CHATEAU-THIERRY 

come  another  drive  and  another.  The  battle  of 
Chateau-Thierry  was  therefore  not  won  and 
could  not  be  won  until  Belleau  Wood  had  been 
cleared  of  the  enemy. 

It  was  June  6  that  the  attack  of  the  American 
troops  began  against  that  wood  and  its  adjacent 
surroundings,  with  the  wood  itself  and  the  towns 
of  Torcy  and  Bouresches  forming  the  objec- 
tives. At  5  o'clock  the  attack  came,  and  there  be- 
gan the  tremendous  sacrifices  which  the  Marine 
Corps  gladly  suffered  that  the  German  fighters 
might  be  thrown  back. 

The  Marines  fought  strictly  according  to 
American  methods — a  rush,  a  halt,  a  rush  again, 
in  four-wave  formation,  the  rear  waves  taking 
over  the  work  of  those  who  had  fallen  before 
them,  passing  over  the  bodies  of  their  dead  com- 
rades and  plunging  ahead,  until  they,  too,  should 
be  torn  to  bits.  But  behind  those  waves  were 
more  waves,  and  the  attack  went  on. 

"Men  fell  like  flies" ;  the  expression  is  that  of 
an  officer  writing  from  the  field.  Companies  that 
had  entered  the  battle  250  strong  dwindled  to  50 
and  60,  with  a  sergeant  in  command ;  but  the  at- 
tack did  not  falter.  At  9.45  o'clock  that  night 
Bouresches  was  taken  by  Lieut.  James  F.  Rob- 
ertson and  twenty-odd  men  of  his  platoon;  these 
soon  were  joined  by  two  reen forcing  platoons. 
Then  came  the  enemy  counter  attacks,  but  the 
Marines  held. 

In  Belleau  Wood  the  fighting  had  been  literally 
[281] 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

from  tree  to  tree,  stronghold  to  stronghold;  and 
it  was  a  fight  which  must  last  for  weeks  before 
its  accomplishment  in  victory.  Belleau  Wood 
was  a  jungle,  its  every  rocky  formation  forming 
a  German  machine-gun  nest,  almost  impossible  to 
reach  by  artillery  or  grenade  fire.  There  was 
only  one  way  to  wipe  out  these  nests — by  the 
bayonet.  And  by  this  method  were  they  wiped 
out,  for  United  States  Marines,  bare  chested, 
shouting  their  battle  cry  of  "E-e-e-e-e  y-a-a-h-h-h 
yip!"  charged  straight  into  the  murderous  fire 
from  those  guns,  and  won !  Out  of  the  number 
that  charged,  in  more  than  one  instance,  only  one 
would  reach  the  stronghold.  There,  with  his 
bayonet  as  his  only  weapon,  he  would  either  kill 
or  capture  the  defenders  of  the  nest,  and  then 
swinging  the  gun  about  in  its  position,  turn  it 
against  the  remaining  German  positions  in  the 
forest.  Such  was  the  character  of  the  fighting  in 
Belleau  Wood;  fighting  which  continued  until 
July  6,  when  after  a  short  relief  the  invincible 
Americans  finally  were  taken  back  to  the  rest 
billet  for  recuperation. 

In  all  the  history  of  the  Marine  Corps  there  is 
no  such  battle  as  that  one  in  Belleau  Wood. 
Fighting  day  and  night  without  relief,  without 
sleep,  often  without  water,  and  for  days  without 
hot  rations,  the  Marines  met  and  defeated  the 
best  divisions  that  Germany  could  throw  into  the 
line.  Time  after  time  officers  seeing  their  lines 
cut  to  pieces,  seeing  their  men  so  dog  tired  that 

[282] 


MARINES  AT  CHATEAU-THIERRY 

they  even  fell  asleep  under  shell  fire,  hearing 
their  wounded  calling  for  the  water  that  they 
were  unable  to  supply,  seeing  men  fight  on  after 
they  had  been  wounded  and  until  they  dropped 
unconscious;  time  after  time  officers  seeing  these 
things,  believing  that  the  very  limit  of  human 
endurance  had  been  reached,  would  send  back 
messages  to  their  post  command  that  their  men 
were  exhausted.  But  in  answer  to  this  would 
come  the  word  that  the  lines  must  hold,  and  if 
possible  those  lines  must  attack.  And  the  lines 
obeyed.  Without  water,  without  food,  without 
rest  they  went  forward — and  forward  every  time 
to  victory.  Companies  had  been  so  torn  and 
lacerated  by  losses  that  they  were  hardly  pla- 
toons; but  they  held  their  lines  and  advanced 
them.  In  more  than  one  case  companies  lost 
every  officer,  leaving  a  sergeant  and  sometimes  a 
corporal  to  command,  and  the  advance  continued. 
After  13  days  in  this  inferno  of  fire  a  captured 
German  officer  told  with  his  dying  breath  of  a 
fresh  division  of  Germans  that  was  about  to  be 
thrown  into  the  battle  to  attempt  to  wrest  from 
the  Marines  that  part  of  the  wood  they  had 
gained.  The  Marines,  who  for  days  had  been 
fighting  only  on  their  sheer  nerve,  who  had  been 
worn  out  from  nights  of  sleeplessness,  from  lack 
of  rations,  from  terrific  shell  and  machine-gun 
fire,  straightened  their  lines  and  prepared  for  the 
attack.  It  came — as  the  dying  German  officer 
had  predicted. 

[283] 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

At  2  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  June  13  it  was 
launched  by  the  Germans  along  the  whole  front. 
Without  regard  for  men,  the  enemy  hurled  his 
forces  against  Bouresches  and  the  Bois  de  Bel- 
leau,  and  sought  to  win  back  what  had  been  taken 
from  Germany  by  the  Americans.  The  orders 
were  that  these  positions  must  be  taken  at  all 
costs;  that  the  utmost  losses  in  men  must  be  en- 
dured that  the  Bois  de  Belleau  and  Bouresches 
might  not  fall  again  into  German  hands.  But  the 
depleted  lines  of  the  Marines  held ;  the  men  who 
had  fought  on  their  nerve  alone  for  days  once 
more  showed  the  mettle  of  which  they  were  made. 
With  their  backs  to  the  trees  and  boulders  of 
the  Bois  de  Belleau,  with  their  sole  shelter  the 
scattered  ruins  of  Bouresches,  the  thinning  lines 
of  the  Marines  repelled  the  attack  and  crashed 
back  the  new  division  which  had  sought  to  wrest 
the  position  from  them. 

And  so  it  went.  Day  after  day,  night  after 
night,  while  time  after  time  messages  like  the 
following  traveled  to  the  post  command : 

Losses  heavy.  Difficult  to  get  runners  through.  Some 
have  never  returned.  Morale  excellent,  but  troops  about 
all  in.  Men  exhausted. 

Exhausted,  but  holding  on.  And  they  con- 
tinued to  hold  on  in  spite  of  every  difficulty.  Ad- 
vancing their  lines  slowly  day  by  day,  the  Ma- 
rines finally  prepared  their  positions  to  such  an 
extent  that  the  last  rush  for  the  possession  of  the 

[284] 


MARINES  AT  CHATEAU-THIERRY 

wood  could  be  made.  Then,  on  June  24,  follow- 
ing a  tremendous  barrage,  the  struggle  began. 

The  barrage  literally  tore  the  woods  to  pieces, 
but  even  its  immensity  could  not  wipe  out  all  the 
nests  that  remained ;  the  emplacements  that  were 
behind  almost  every  clump  of  bushes,  every  jag- 
ged, rough  group  of  boulders.  But  those  that  re- 
mained were  wiped  out  by  the  American  method 
of  the  rush  and  the  bayonet,  and  in  the  days  that 
followed  every  foot  of  Belleau  Wood  was  cleared 
of  the  enemy  and  held  by  the  frayed  lines  of  the 
Americans. 

It  was,  therefore,  with  the  feeling  of  work  well 
done  that  the  depleted  lines  of  the  Marines  were 
relieved  in  July,  that  they  might  be  filled  with 
replacements  and  made  ready  for  the  grand  of- 
fensive in  the  vicinity  of  Soissons,  July  18.  And 
in  recognition  of  their  sacrifice  and  bravery  this 
praise  was  forthcoming  from  the  French: 

Army  Headquarters,  June  30,  1918. 
In  view  of  the  brilliant  conduct  of  the  Fourth  Brigade 
of  the  Second  United  States  Division,  which  in  a  spirited 
fight  took  Bouresches  and  the  important  strong  point  of 
Bois  de  Belleau,  stubbornly  defended  by  a  large  enemy 
force,  the  general  commanding  the  Sixth  Army  orders 
that  henceforth,  in  all  official  papers,  the  Bois  de  Belleau 
shall  be  named  "Bois  de  la  Brigade  de  Marine." 

DIVISION  GENERAL  DEGOUTTE, 
Commanding  Sixth  Army. 

Congratulations  from  General  Pershing  and 
General  Foch  on  the  fine  work  of  the  Fourth  Bri- 
gade were  embodied  in  a  general  order,  dated 

[285] 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

June  9,  1918,  issued  by  Brigadier  General  Har- 
bord  to  the  units  under  his  command. 

On  July  1 8  the  Marines  were  again  called  into 
action  in  the  vicinity  of  Soissons,  near  Tigny  and 
Vierzy.  In  the  face  of  a  murderous  fire  from 
concentrated  machine  guns,  which  contested 
every  foot  of  their  advance,  the  United  States 
Marines  moved  forward  until  the  severity  of 
their  casualties  necessitated  that  they  dig  in  and 
hold  the  positions  they  had  gained.  Here,  again, 
their  valor  called  forth  official  praise,  which  came 
in  the  following: 

General  Orders,  No.  46. 

It  is  with  keen  pride  that  the  divisional  commander 
transmits  to  the  command  the  congratulations  and  af- 
fectionate greetings  of  Gen.  Pershing,  who  visited  the 
divisional  headquarters  last  night.  His  praise  of  the 
gallant  work  of  the  division  on  the  i8th  and  igth  is 
echoed  by  the  French  high  command,  the  Third  Corps 
commander,  American  Expeditionary  Forces,  and  in  a 
telegram  from  the  former  divisional  commander.  In 
spite  of  two  sleepless  nights,  long  marches  through  rain 
and  mud,  and  the  discomfort  of  hunger  and  thirst,  the 
division  attacked  side  by  side  with  the  gallant  First 
Moroccan  Division,  and  maintained  itself  with  credit. 
You  advanced  over  6  miles,  captured  over  3,000  prison- 
ers, II  batteries  of  artillery,  over  100  machine  guns, 
minnenwerfers,  and  supplies.  The  Second  Division  has 
sustained  the  best  traditions  of  the  Regular  Army  and  the 
Marine  Corps.  The  story  of  your  achievements  will  be 
told  in  millions  of  homes  in  all  allied  nations  to-night. 

J.  G.  HARBORD,  Major  General,  N.  A. 
France,  July  21. 

Then  came  the  battle  for  the  St.  Mihiel  salient. 
On  the  night  of  September  n  the  Second  Divi- 

[286] 


MARINES  AT  CHATEAU-THIERRY 

sion  took  over  a  line  running  from  Remenauville 
to  Limey,  and  on  the  night  of  September  14  and 
the  morning  of  September  15  attacked,  with  two 
days'  objectives  ahead  of  them.  Overcoming  the 
enemy  resistance,  they  romped  through  to  the 
Rupt  de  Mad,  a  small  river,  crossed  it  on  stone 
bridges,  occupied  Thiacourt,  the  first  day's  ob- 
jective, scaled  the  heights  just  beyond  it,  pushed 
on  to  a  line  running  from  the  Zammes-Joulney 
Ridges  to  the  Binvaux  Forest,  and  there  rested, 
with  the  second  day's  objectives  occupied  by  2.50 
o'clock  of  the  first  day.  The  casualties  of  the 
division  were  about  1,000,  of  which  134  were 
killed.  Of  these,  about  half  were  Marines.  The 
captures  in  which  the  Marines  participated  were 
80  German  officers,  3,200  men,  ninety-odd  can- 
non, and  vast  stores. 

But  even  further  honors  were  to  befall  the 
fighting,  landing,  and  building  force,  of  which 
the  Navy  is  justly  proud.  In  the  early  part  of 
October  it  became  necessary  for  the  Allies  to  cap- 
ture the  bald,  jagged  ridge  20  miles  due  east  of 
Rheims,  known  as  Blanc  Mont  Ridge.  Here  the 
armies  of  Germany  and  the  Allies  had  clashed 
more  than  once,  and  attempt  after  attempt  had 
been  made  to  wrest  it  from  German  hands.  It 
was  a  keystone  of  the  German  defense,  the  fall  of 
which  would  have  a  far-reaching  effect  upon  the 
enemy  armies.  To  the  glory  of  the  United  States 
Marines,  let  it  be  said,  that  they  were  again  a 
part  of  that  splendid  Second  Division  which 

[287] 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

swept  forward  in  the  attack  which  freed  Blanc 
Mont  Ridge  from  German  hands,  pushed  its  way 
down  the  slopes,  and  occupied  the  level  ground 
just  beyond,  thus  assuring  a  victory,  the  full  im- 
port of  which  can  best  be  judged  by  the  order  of 
General  Lejeune,  following  the  battle,  in  which 
he  said : 

As  a  direct  result  of  your  victory,  the  German  armies 
east  and  west  of  Rheims  are  in  full  retreat,  and  by  draw- 
ing on  yourselves  several  German  divisions  from  other 
parts  of  the  front  you  greatly  assisted  the  victorious  ad- 
vance of  the  allied  armies  between  Cambrai  and  St. 
Quentin. 

Thus  it  is  that  the  United  States  Marines  have 
fulfilled  the  glorious  traditions  of  their  corps  in 
this  their  latest  duty  as  the  "soldiers  who  go  to 
sea."  Their  sharpshooting — and  in  one  regiment 
93  per  cent  of  the  men  wear  the  medal  of  a 
marksman,  a  sharpshooter,  or  an  expert  rifleman 
— has  amazed  soldiers  of  European  armies,  ac- 
customed merely  to  shooting  in  the  general  direc- 
tion of  the  enemy.  Under  the  fiercest  fire  they 
have  calmly  adjusted  their  sights,  aimed  for  their 
man,  and  killed  him,  and  in  bayonet  attacks  their 
advance  on  machine-gun  nests  has  been  irresist- 
ible. In  the  official  citation  lists  more  than  one 
American  Marine  is  credited  with  taking  an 
enemy  machine  gun  single  handed,  bayoneting 
its  crew  and  then  turning  the  gun  against  the  foe. 
In  one  battle  alone,  that  of  Belleau  Wood,  the  ci- 
tation lists  bear  the  names  of  fully  500  United 

[288] 


MARINES  AT  CHATEAU-THIERRY 

States  Marines  who  so  distinguished  themselves 
in  battle  as  to  call  forth  the  official  commendation 
of  their  superior  officers. 

More  than  faithful  in  every  emergency,  ac- 
cepting hardships  with  admirable  morale,  proud 
of  the  honor  of  taking  their  place  as  shock  troops 
for  the  American  legions,  they  have  fulfilled 
every  glorious  tradition  of  their  corps,  and  they 
have  given  to  the  world  a  list  of  heroes  whose 
names  will  go  down  to  all  history. 


[289] 


XXXI 

COMRADES  OF  THE  SEAS 

There  is  one  outstanding  blessing  that  came  to  the 
world  out  of  this  war,  and  that  is  the  perfect  cooperation 
and  sympathy  and  comradeship  between  the  American 
and  British  navies.  They  worked  together  during  the 
struggle  in  close  cooperation  with  other  allied  navies. 
They  are  together  now  and  must  forever  be  together  in 
the  resolve  to  protect  what  their  valor  has  won,  and  to 
preserve  alike  for  themselves  and  all  the  world  the  com- 
plete freedom  of  the  seas. 

Springfield,  Mass.,  December  8,  1918. 

A  FEW  months  ago  in  almost  every  city  of 
this  country,  Americans  gathered  with  their 
French  allies  to  celebrate  Bastille  day.  It  gave 
me  a  thrill,  as  I  stood  on  the  platform  with  the 
French  ambassador,  at  the  celebration  held  in 
New  York,  to  express  the  sentiment  which  was 
in  the  heart  of  every  American,  of  gratitude  and 
love  for  France. 

Particularly  so,  because  as  Secretary  of  the 
Navy,  I  recalled  that  a  great  French  general  had 
come  to  our  aid  at  the  time  of  our  need,  commem- 
orated by  Pershing  when,  at  LaFayette's  tomb, 
he  said:  "LaFayette,  we  are  here."  And  we 
never  can  forget  that  at  Yorktown  victory  came 

[290] 


COMRADES  OF  THE  SEAS 

when  the  French  ships  appeared,  and  the  first 
salute  to  the  American  flag  came  from  a  French 
ship. 

We  are  gathered  here  to-day  to  express  the 
sentiment  which  dominates  us,  an  appreciation  of 
that  great  empire  whose  mighty  navy  and  cour- 
ageous army  have  stood  like  a  stone  wall  for  four 
years  in  the  cause  of  liberty.  That  was  a  fitting 
toast  which  some  brilliant  man  proposed  to 
George  Washington  when,  speaking  of  the  Revo- 
lution, he  said:  "Here's  to  George  Washington, 
that  splendid  Englishman,  who  had  a  fight  with  a 
German  king  and  defeated  him."  The  misunder- 
standing we  had  with  Great  Britain,  by  which  we 
won  our  independence,  and  Great  Britain  won 
the  large  liberty  which  it  enjoys  to-day,  bound 
us  together  with  ties  which  can  never  be  broken. 

The  fact  that  the  President  recently  promoted 
Vice-Admiral  Sims  to  be  a  full  admiral  of  the 
navy  shows  that  in  the  American  navy  no  one 
mistake  of  judgment  or  honest  error  precludes 
any  naval  officer  from  the  highest  promotion.  As 
a  young  officer,  Admiral  Sims,  then  Commander 
Sims,  received  a  reprimand  from  the  President 
of  the  United  States  and  a  serious  rebuke  from 
the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  because,  at  a  dinner 
given  by  the  Lord  Mayor  of  London,  Sims  in  re- 
ply to  the  address  of  welcome  of  the  Lord  Mayor 
said:  "If  the  time  ever  comes  when  the  British 
empire  is  seriously  menaced  by  an  external  en- 
emy, it  is  my  opinion  that  you  may  count  upon 

[291] 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

every  man,  every  dollar,  every  drop  of  blood,  of 
your  kindred  across  the  sea." 

Commander  Sims  was  guilty  of  a  serious  in- 
fraction of  naval  regulations,  and  President 
Taft's  reprimand  was  in  accordance  with  the  duty 
of  the  chief  executive  under  conditions  as  they 
then  existed.  It  is  evident  that  no  naval  officer 
ought  to  turn  prophet  at  a  public  banquet,  par- 
ticularly when  his  prophecy  offends  a  nation  with 
which  his  government  is  at  peace. 

But  time  has  demonstrated  one  thing,  and  that 
is  that  Commander  Sims  was  a  true  prophet  and 
the  years  1917-18  witnessed  the  literal  fulfillment 
of  his  prediction.  To  be  sure,  America  did  not 
enter  the  war  as  an  ally  of  Great  Britain  as  a 
nation,  but  became  associated  with  the  allies  in 
the  big  war  because  the  principles  of  freedom 
dear  to  every  free  nation  were  seriously  menaced. 

There  is  one  outstanding  blessing  that  came  to 
the  world  out  of  this  war,  and  that  is  the  perfect 
cooperation  and  sympathy  and  comradeship  be- 
tween the  American  and  British  navies.  They 
worked  together  during  the  struggle  in  close  co- 
operation with  other  allied  navies.  They  are  to- 
gether now  and  must  forever  be  together  in  the 
resolve  to  protect  what  their  valor  has  won  and 
to  preserve  alike  for  themselves  and  all  the  world 
the  complete  freedom  of  the  seas. 

Sea-power  is  the  determining  factor  in  war, 
for  if  the  seas  had  not  been  kept  open  victory 
could  not  have  been  achieved.  We  send  to  Brit- 

[292] 


COMRADES  OF  THE  SEAS 

ain  our  greetings  and  appreciation,  and  the  ties 
between  the  two  countries  will  be  strengthened. 
England  and  America,  acting  in  perfect  accord, 
will  never  allow  another  menace  to  grow,  such  as 
has  been  witnessed  during  the  past  four  years, 
and  they  will  do  their  utmost  to  insure  freedom 
for  all  the  nations  on  the  face  of  the  earth. 

When  the  war  broke  out  we  lacked  ships  to 
carry  our  men  and  supplies  across  the  waters. 
Britain  came  to  our  aid  and  transported  to  France 
American  soldiers  and  supplies  for  them,  and 
the  seas  were  kept  open.  Never  in  the  history  of 
the  world  were  so  many  men,  together  with  their 
complete  equipment,  carried  across  3,000  miles 
of  water  with  as  few  losses.  Though  we  sent  to 
France  2,000,000  men  in  one  and  a  half  years  not 
a  single  man  lost  his  life  on  an  American  troop- 
ship and  only  a  few  went  to  their  death  as  the  re- 
sult of  submarine  attacks  on  other  transports. 

The  Germans,  too,  were  somewhat  surprised  at 
our  job  of  crossing.  A  few  weeks  before  the 
armistice  was  signed  some  German  prisoners 
were  brought  to  a  French  camp,  and  Allied  of- 
ficers went  to  question  them.  Among  them  was 
a  young  German  who  had  spent  the  early  part  of 
his  life  in  the  United  States,  and  he  expressed 
surprise  at  seeing  so  many  Americans  already  in 
France.  He  said  to  the  Allied  officers :  "When 
I  was  in  Germany  on  my  last  furlough  they  told 
me  that  there  were  only  a  handful  of  Americans 
in  France,  but  it  looks  to  me  as  though  the  whole 

l>93] 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

face  of  the  earth  was  covered  with  Yankees." 
This  young  German  wore  the  iron  cross — which 
to-day  can  be  bought  at  about  a  cent  a  bushel. 
He  was  much  interested  in  the  Victoria  crosses 
and  the  Croix  de  Guerre  worn  by  the  officers 
about  him.  He  remarked  to  the  officers :  "I  can 
understand  the  French  crosses  and  the  British 
cross,  but  what  puzzles  me  is,  How  did  the  Amer- 
icans get  across?" 

It  was  the  close  cooperation  of  the  boys  in  the 
navy  that  got  those  men  across.  I  wish  I  could 
tell  you  more  of  these  boys.  From  the  begin- 
ning of  the  war  they  have  burdened  me  with  re- 
quests to  be  assigned  to  destroyer  duty,  which  is 
the  most  hazardous  of  all.  April  6  will  hence- 
forth in  our  annals  be  in  the  same  category  as 
July  4.  Twenty-eight  days  after  America  had  de- 
clared war,  a  flotilla  of  American  destroyers  was 
in  British  waters,  and  through  the  cold  blasts  of 
last  winter,  the  boys  of  our  navy  were  exchang- 
ing experiences  with  the  boys  of  the  British 
navy,  and  together  they  were  making  the  subma- 
rine impotent,  so  far  as  winning  the  war  was 
concerned,  thus  giving  new  glory  to  our  flag. 


[294] 


XXXII 

THE    NEED   OF  A   GREATER    NAVY 

It  seems  self-evident  that  a  world-police  must  be  es- 
tablished, no  matter  what  the  plan  of  operation  of  the 
Peace  League  may  be.  That  world  police  will  be  largely 
naval,  for  only  a  police  equipped  with  and  trained  to 
ships  could  be  world-mobile,  and  a  world-police  which 
could  not  move  speedily  and  powerfully  about  the  world 
would  be  as  valueless  and  impotent  as  a  city  police  in- 
capable of  traversing  the  city's  streets. 

Statement  to  House  Naval  Affairs  Committee,  in  Hear- 
ings on  Naval  Appropriation  Bill,  December  30,  1918. 

No  step  backward,  but  a  long  step  forward, 
should  be  taken  by  this  Congress  in  strengthen- 
ing the  American  Navy.  The  additional  three- 
year  program  recommended  in  my  annual  re- 
port is  a  conservative  one  intended  to  continue  the 
policy  of  steady  upbuilding  of  the  Navy  estab- 
lished in  1916.  The  General  Board  of  the  Navy, 
after  extensive  investigation  and  exhaustive  con- 
sideration, has  recommended  a  much  larger  pro- 
gram, extending  to  the  year  1925.  While  their 
recommendations  are  entitled  to,  and  have  re- 
ceived, very  careful  consideration,  the  Depart- 
ment has  not  felt  justified  at  this  time  in  recom- 
mending such  an  extensive  program,  or  one  ex- 

[295] 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

tending  over  such  a  long  period.  At  the  same 
time,  a  year-by-year  program  is  not  thought 
to  be  advisable;  it  is  too  much  of  the  hand-to- 
mouth  nature,  and  naval  experts  and  thinking 
men  interested  in  the  Navy  have  seen  its  unwis- 
dom and  in  1916  succeeded  in  substituting  a  bet- 
ter plan.  When  the  three-year  program  policy 
was  adopted,  it  met  with  general  approval 
throughout  the  country,  and  a  reversion  to  hand- 
to-mouth  methods  now  would  be  a  retrograde 
step.  The  Department  has  felt  that  the  least  it 
could  do  at  this  time  was  to  recommend  a  virtual 
duplication  of  this  program. 

As  regards  the  larger  vessels  of  definite  types, 
the  numbers  of  each  type  can  now  be  fixed  and 
have  been  recommended.  I  am  asking  that  au- 
thorization be  given  for  the  construction  of  ten 
dreadnaughts,  six  battle  cruisers,  and  ten  scout 
cruisers  to  be  laid  down  during  the  coming  three 
years  and  one  hundred  and  thirty  other  ships  of 
such  type  and  character  as  may  give  us  a  well- 
rounded  Navy.  The  initial  appropriation  need 
not  be  large,  for  work  on  some  of  the  big  ships  al- 
ready authorized  was  necessarily  deferred  during 
the  war  in  order  that  efforts  might  be  concen- 
trated upon  destroyers  and  like  small  craft  and 
merchant  ships.  Now  the  construction  of  the  big 
ships  will  be  pushed  as  rapidly  as  possible,  the 
number  of  small  craft  being  ample  until  more 
dreadnaughts  and  other  big  ships  are  added  to  the 
naval  force.  As  regards  these  smaller  vessels,  a 

[296] 


THE  NEED  OF  A  GREATER  NAVY 

general  authorization  is  requested  in  order  that  a 
study  of  all  types  produced  by  all  nations  during 
the  war  may  be  made  and  preliminary  work  may 
be  done.  In  view  of  the  large  number  of  smaller 
vessels  undertaken  during  the  war  which  will 
continue  to  be  constructed  during  the  next  year, 
it  is  not  recommended  that  the  construction  of  ad- 
ditional smaller  vessels  be  pressed  at  this  time. 
The  details  concerning  them  can  be  taken  up  sub- 
sequently. In  this  connection  it  should  be  point- 
ed out  that  although  the  program  of  1916  ex- 
tended over  three  years,  the  individual  vessels  to 
be  undertaken  in  any  specified  year  were  specified 
each  year  by  the  Congress.  It  is  expected  and 
recommended  that  this  practice  be  continued.  My 
thought  is,  and  it  finds  expression  in  the  esti- 
mates, that  under  present  conditions  we  ought  to 
make  no  change  in  the  naval  program  which 
the  United  States  set  for  itself  in  1916.  We  ought 
neither  to  commit  ourselves  to  any  gigantic  ex- 
pansion nor  to  recede  from  the  wise  three-year 
policy. 

It  is  our  duty  to  consider  the  obligations  im- 
posed upon  America  if  the  Peace  Conference  now 
occupied  at  Versailles  upon  the  greatest  task 
which  ever  engaged  the  attention  of  a  human 
gathering  during  the  whole  course  of  the  world's 
history  completes  its  work  constructively  and  sat- 
isfactorily, as  we  all  hope  it  will  do.  Let  us  as- 
sume that  this  Conference  will  give  birth  to  some 
plan  looking  toward  a  concert  of  the  nations  for 

[297] 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

the  maintenance  of  peace.  Whether  it  be  a 
League  of  Nations,  according  to  the  present  ac- 
ceptation of  the  meaning  of  that  term,  or  what 
not,  it  will  be  some  manner  of  body  to  which  dif- 
fering nations  will  perforce  submit  their  differ- 
ences for  adjudication  and  which  will  be  suffi- 
ciently powerful  to  induce  acceptance  of  its  de- 
cisions when  once  they  shall  be  made. 

The  experience  of  poor  and  imperfect  humanity 
has  very  fully  taught  the  lesson  that  power  for 
the  enforcement  of  judicial  decisions  sometimes 
needs  to  be  considerable;  and  back  of  that  must 
lie  a  tremendous  police  power  of  prevention  if 
judicial  decisions  are  to  be  made  as  infrequent  as 
possible,  indeed  if  society  is  to  exist  at  all.  Arbi- 
tration which  had  behind  it  no  power  capable  of 
compelling  the  disputants  to  accept  the  decisions 
)f  the  arbitrators  would  have  no  value  whatsoever 
in  cases  of  serious  emergency. 

It  seems  self-evident  that  a  world-police  must 
be  established  to  achieve  this  purpose,  no  matter 
what  the  constitution  or  plan  of  operation  of  the 
Peace  League  may  be.     That  world-police  will 
be  very  largely  naval,  for  only  a  police  equipped 
with  and  trained  to  ships  could  be  world-mobile, 
and  a  world-police  which  could  not  move  speedily 
and  powerfully  about  the  world  would  be  as, 
valueless  and  impotent  as  a  city  police  incapable* 
of  traversing  the  city's  streets. 

This  being  true,  it  becomes  obvious  that  if  the 
United  States  is  to  participate  in  such  a  move- 

[298] 


THE  NEED  OF  A  GREATER  NAVY 

ment  it  must  participate  upon  a  scale  commensu- 
rate with  its  wealth,  intelligence,  great  population 
and  scientific  attainments.  Any  lesser  participa- 
tion would  be  a  shirking  of  its  duty.  A  contribu- 
tion less  in  cost,  strength  or  any  detail  of  per- 
fection, than  that  of  any  other  member  of  the 
League,  would  be  undignified  and  unworthy  of  a 
nation  which  by  Providence  has  been  so  gener- 
ously endowed  as  the  United  States. 

I  am  quite  certain  that  it  would  be  improper  for 
America  even  to  consider  the  proposition  of  con- 
tributing to  the  world-police  a  number  of  units 
smaller  than  that  contributed  by  the  greatest 
other  power.  It  seems  to  me  that  this  is  obviously 
the  American  duty  and  that  the  other  nations  of 
the  world  would  be  justified  in  regarding  us  as 
shirkers  if  we  failed  to  accept  the  burden  of  it 
cheerfully  and  turn  to  the  performance  of  it  with 
an  unexampled  earnestness  and  high  efficiency. 
It  would  be  contrary  to  all  our  traditions  and  all 
our  ideals  to  assume  that  in  the  planning  of  a 
new  and  mighty  Navy,  America  could  be  ani- 
mated either  by  fear  or  by  the  intention  of  ag- 
gression. 

What  if,  unhappily,  the  Peace  Conference 
should  fail  to  come  to  an  agreement  upon  such  a 
plan?  Suppose  the  Powers  do  not  now  agree  to 
curtail  armament.  Then  it  is  entirely  obvious  to 
all  that  the  United  States,  if  she  is  to  realize  her 
destiny  as  a  leader  of  the  democratic  impulse,  if 
she  is  to  play  her  proper  part  (as  she,  hand  in 

[299] 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

hand  with  her  incomparable  Allies,  has  played  it 
in  this  war)  in  the  protection  of  small  nations,  the 
preservation  of  the  freedom  of  the  seas  for  them 
and  for  the  world  at  large,  must  have  a  Navy  that 
will  be  as  powerful  as  that  of  any  nation  in  the 
world. 

It  is  my  firm  conviction  that  if  the  Conference 
at  Versailles  does  not  result  in  a  general  agree- 
ment to  put  an  end  to  naval  building  on  the  part 
of  all  the  nations,  then  the  United  States  must 
bend  her  will  and  bend  her  energies,  must  give 
her  men  and  give  her  money  to  the  task  of  the 
creation  of  incomparably  the  greatest  Navy  in 
the  world.  She  has  no  designs  upon  the  terri- 
tory or  the  trade  of  any  other  nation  or  group  of 
nations.  But  she  is  pledged  to  the  support  of  the 
Monroe  Doctrine ;  she  is  pledged  to  the  protection 
of  the  weak  wherever  they  may  suffer  threats; 
she  is  incomparably  rich,  incomparably  strong  in 
natural  resources;  if  need  be  she  must  be  incom- 
parably strong  in  defense  against  aggressors  and 
in  offense  against  evil  doers. 

America  is  committed  to  the  promise  of  enter- 
ing into  a  general  and  genuine  plan  for  the  re- 
duction of  armaments.  If  the  outcome  of  the 
Peace  Conference  shall  be  that  all  nations  will 
concur  in  this  idea,  then  the  United  States  will 
gladly  join  them  in  the  worthy  plan.  For  three 
years  we  have  been  committed  to  such  a  program 
in  such  circumstances.  But  if  such  an  agreement 
cannot  be  shortly  arranged,  then  we  here  in 

[300] 


THE  NEED  OF  A  GREATER  NAVY 

America  must  accept  the  burden  which  the  fail- 
ure automatically  will  thrust  upon  us  and  meet 
it  by  adding  such  units  to  our  Navy  as  will  secure 
our  own  safety  and  aid  powerfully  in  protecting 
the  peace  of  the  world. 

Every  year  since  I  have  been  Secretary  of  the 
Navy  I  have  urged  an  international  agreement  to 
end  competitive  and  costly  naval  construction. 
The  day  for  the  realization  of  that  long-cherished 
idea  seems  not  far  distant.  We  are  pledged  to 
cooperate  with  other  nations  to  a  reduction  of 
armament.  Unless  the  nations  now  agree  upon 
such  conventions  as  will  compel  the  settlement  of 
national  differences  by  arbitration  we  will  fail  to 
garner  the  best  fruits  of  the  dearly-bought  vic- 
tory. For  one,  I  believe  the  war  has  taught  us 
two  things:  First,  that  national  differences  and 
greed  for  power  may  always  endanger  the  peace 
of  the  world;  Second,  that  to  prevent  differences 
and  selfish  ambitions  from  producing  another  war 
there  must  be  constituted  a  high  tribunal  and 
there  must  be  a  world-police  power  so  strong  that 
no  nation  will  dare  defy  the  strength  of  a  decree 
of  such  an  international  tribunal. 


[301] 


XXXIII 

DRINK   BANISHED    FROM    THE   NAVY 

The  wine-mess  order  was  not  as  popular  at  first  as  it 
deserved  to  be,  but  leading  naval  officers  will  tell  you 
that  there  are  not  five  per  cent  of  the  officers  of  the 
Navy  who  would  permit  intoxicants  to  come  back  if 
the  question  were  put  to  a  vote.  The  order  was  issued 
because  temperance  promotes  efficiency. 

Board  of  Temperance,  Prohibition  and  Public  Morals 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  Washington,  D.  C., 
December  17,  1918. 

I  WAS  asked  to  come  before  you  this  morning 
to  explain  the  reason  why  the  so-called  "Dry  Or- 
der" in  the  Navy  was  issued.  There  were  many 
reasons  given  for  it  at  the  time,  but  nearly  all 
those  explanations  were  wrong.  It  was  issued,  of 
course,  solely  because  temperance  is  the  only  sure 
method  to  efficiency,  and  my  ambition  was  that 
the  American  Navy,  whether  it  be  large  or 
whether  it  be  small — no  matter  what  its  size — 
should  be  the  most  efficient  and  most  powerful 
navy  afloat. 

But  the  moving  cause  of  it — I  might  not  have 
issued  it  at  that  time,  although  I  had  thought 
of  it  ever  since  I  came  into  the  Cabinet,  and  I 
had  been  studying  conditions — was  the  following 

[302] 


DRINK  BANISHED  FROM  THE  NAVY 

incident:  One  day  there  came  into  my  office  a 
splendid  gentleman,  and  he  said,  "I  want  to  talk 
to  you  about  my  nephew.  You  have  expelled  him 
from  the  Navy  in  disgrace,  and  I  wish  to  appeal 
to  you  to  reinstate  him."  His  nephew  had  been 
drunk  on  board  ship.  He  had  gone  ashore  to  a 
dinner  and  made  an  exhibition  of  himself,  and 
brought  disgrace  on  the  service.  He  had  been 
tried  by  court  martial  and  convicted  and  sen- 
tenced to  dishonorable  dismissal  from  the  Navy. 
I  said  to  him,  "I  cannot  change  the  order; 
I  cannot  permit  men  to  disgrace  the  service  that 
way  and  remain  in  it."  And  then  this  man,  an 
old  Quaker,  said  to  me,  "Sir,  this  boy  is  a  prod- 
uct of  the  Navy,  you  have  made  him  what  he 
is ;  and  now  you  throw  him  out  in  disgrace !"  and 
he  gave  a  very  deserved  and  severe  lecture  upon 
a  service  that  would  make  it  possible  and  easy 
for  young  men  to  go  into  temptation  and  into 
drink  and  then,  when  they  had  fallen,  disgrace 
them  for  life.  It  impressed  me  very  much.  He 
explained,  "When  this  boy's  father  died,  he  came 
into  my  family  to  live  as  my  own  son.  We  never 
had  even  a  drop  of  wine  on  our  table.  We  are 
strictly  temperate  in  our  home,  and  the  boy  never 
tasted  a  drink  until  he  went  to  Annapolis,  nor 
until  after  he  graduated;  and  then  he  went 
aboard  ship  and  at  every  dinner  there  was  the 
wine  served;  there  was  then  a  feeling  in  the 
Navy  that  if  a  man  did  not  take  his  glass  he  was 
not  exactly  a  good  fellow;  they  nearly  all 

[303] 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

did  it,  and  this  boy,  following  the  custom,  learned 
the  taste  of  it,  he  liked  it;  and  now  he's 
ruined,  and  the  Navy,"  said  he,  "is  responsible 
for  the  ruin  of  that  boy,  and  I  charge  it  to  you!" 
I  thought  it  was  a  just  indictment,  and  I  made 
up  my  mind  at  once  that  I  would  issue  the  or- 
der. And  that's  the  reason  why  the  order  went 
through. 

Now,  I  had  no  illusions  about  the  order  when 
I  signed  it.  I  never  deemed  it  would  be  very 
popular  in  certain  circles.  I  knew,  in  the  first 
place,  that  many  excellent  men,  many  sober  men, 
many  men  in  the  Navy  who  never  had  in  their 
lives  taken  more  than  a  glass  of  wine,  and  who 
had  never  neglected  their  duties,  would  resent  the 
order  as  telling  to  the  world  that  it  was  necessary 
for  an  order  to  be  issued  to  make  them  sober  and 
efficient.  I  had  respect  for  their  opinions; 
and  when  they  criticised  it  and  said,  "We  don't 
care  anything  about  it  except  that  it  makes  a  bad 
impression  on  the  public  mind  about  us,"  I  could 
see  their  point  of  view.  But  I  reflected  that  there 
were  coming  into  the  service  thousands  of  men, 
young  men,  who  had  not  the  stamina  to  resist, 
and  my  obligation  and  duty  was  to  them. 
Moreover,  there  was  already  in  existence  in  the 
Navy  an  order  that  if  an  enlisted  man  should  so 
much  as  bring  a  bottle  of  beer  on  board  ship 
and  drink  it,  he  was  put  in  the  brig;  and  yet 
these  men  under  the  rules  served  the  drinks 
to  the  officers.  I  am  a  kind  of  an  old-fash- 

[304] 


DRINK  BANISHED  FROM  THE  NAVY 

ioned  democrat — not  speaking  politically,  though 
I  might  speak  that  way  too — but,  I  am  an  old- 
fashioned  sort  of  an  American  who  believes  that 
what  is  good  enough  for  an  officer  is  good  enough 
for  the  enlisted  man.  And  my  observation  has 
been  that  whiskey  and  all  other  alcoholic  drinks 
will  make  a  Senator  or  an  admiral  just  as  drunk 
as  they  will  make  a  mechanic  or  an  enlisted 
man. 

So  that  the  order  had  not  only  efficiency,  which 
was  the  primal  thing,  but  it  had  also  democracy 
behind  it,  because  I  would  not  be  Secretary  of  a 
Navy  that  would  say  to  a  young  man  who  was 
scrubbing  the  decks,  "If  you  take  a  glass  of  wine 
you  go  to  the  brig,"  when  he  saw  the  wine  being 
carried  to  the  officers'  quarters  and  heard  the 
drink-inspired  sounds  of  jollity  that  issued  from 
those  quarters.  The  old  method  wasn't  democ- 
racy, and  it  wasn't  Americanism. 

Not  long  after  that  order  was  issued  you  know 
what  happened.  I  have  a  rather  good  collection 
of  the  cartoons  that  followed,  and  they  interested 
me  very  much.  But  the  storm  was  not  as  great 
as  I  expected.  I  thought  that  when  Congress 
met  some  distinguished  member  would  rise  in 
that  body  and  offer  a  resolution  to  the  effect  that 
I  had  exceeded  my  powers  in  putting  prohibition 
in  effect  over  a  large,  part  of  the  world  with- 
out legislative  sanction,  because,  you  know,  the 
water  is  a  much  greater  part  of  the  world  than 
the  land.  And  I,  by  one  order,  had  put  into  effect 

[305] 


THE  NAVY  AND  T.HE  NATION 

so  far  as  America  was  concerned,  prohibition 
over  the  greater  part  of  the  world.  But  by  the 
time  Congress  assembled,  instead  of  the  resolu- 
tion being  offered,  I  think  even  to  those  who  did 
not  approve  of  prohibition  in  general  it  was  ap- 
parent that  the  Navy  had  become  so  efficient  that 
they  had  no  argument  against  it.  There  never 
was  any  question  raised  in  Congress  about  the 
authority  to  issue  the  order,  and  I  think  now 
there  is  no  question  anywhere  about  the  wisdom 
of  it. 

Not  long  ago  I  was  talking  with  one  of  the 
very  best  admirals  in  the  Navy,  a  brave  and  cour- 
ageous and  splendid  man,  and  he  said,  "You 
know  I  must  tell  you  something  about  that  order. 
My  ship  was  in  New  York  at  the  time  the  order 
was  issued,  and  I  was  going  up  to  Boston  to 
spend  a  week  or  two.  I  had  been  entertained  in 
Boston  by  many  people,  and  so  I  told  the  steward 
to  stock  up  my  larder ;  and  I  had  put  in  the  wine 
and  the  champagne  and  the  other  things  along 
with  the  food,  not  because  I  drink  myself, — I 
rarely  taste  it ;  a  glass  of  wine  at  a  meal  is  all  I 
ever  take, — but  when  I  had  guests  on  the  ship,  I 
always  entertained  them  as  they  did  me  when  I 
was  on  shore.  I  had  spent  considerable  money 
for  the  entertainment,  and  when  the  order  came 
I  distinctly  resented  it.  I  felt  that  you  had  put 
upon  my  liberties  and  my  rights  something  that 
was  almost  an  affront,  but,"  he  added,  "I  am 
what  they  call  in  the  Navy  a  'Captain's  man,' 

[306] 


DRINK  BANISHED  FROM  THE  NAVY 

I  give  orders  and  expect  them  to  be  obeyed,  and 
when  the  order  came  from  the  Secretary  of  the 
Navy,  I  obeyed.  I  said  nothing  to  anybody.  I 
sent  for  the  steward  and  I  said,  'Take  it  all  out/ 
I  went  ahead  and  have  never  spoken  of  the  inci- 
dent to  this  day,  but,"  he  said,  "I  am  speaking  of 
it  now  to  you  because  since  then  I  have  come  to 
a  higher  position  in  the  Navy,  and  have  had  op- 
portunities to  observe  the  operations  of  General 
Order  99,  and  I  do  not  believe  there  are  five  per 
cent  of  the  officers  of  the  Navy  who  would  permit 
intoxicants  to  come  back  if  it  were  put  to  a  vote." 
I  had  the  suggestion  made  from  many  quar- 
ters, that  there  ought  to  be  an  exception  to  the 
order;  that  it  was  all  right,  and  proper,  that  it 
should  apply  without  any  exceptions  to  Amer- 
icans in  American  ports,  but  when  our  ships  went 
abroad  and  all  the  officers  entertained  the  cap- 
tains and  admirals  of  other  navies,  of  course  it 
would  not  be  courteous  and  proper  to  people  who 
are  accustomed  to  that  kind  of  entertainment, 
not  to  entertain  them  exactly  as  they  entertained 
us.  And  on  one  occasion,  when  we  had  a  dis- 
tinguished party  from  abroad  in  Washington, 
who  were  to  be  entertained  on  the  Mayflower,  the 
suggestion  was  made  that  we  ought  to  relax  the 
rule.  In  China,  they  said,  it  would  not  be  popu- 
lar. Well,  I  replied  that  the  order  had  been  is- 
sued with  no  exceptions.  I  knew  enough  of  the 
spirit  of  the  people  abroad  to  be  certain  that  they 
would  respect  the  Navy  a  great  deal  more  if  it 

[307] 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

believed  in  this  principle,  if  it  practiced  it  all 
over  the  world,  than  if  it  observed  the  rule  only 
at  home. 

So  that  is  the  simple  story  of  what  caused  at 
one  time  a  storm.  But  I  always  knew  that  the 
great  heart  of  the  American  people,  and  I  always 
knew  that  the  great  Church  to  which  I  belonged, 
which  is  a  temperance  church  and  a  prohibition 
church,  were  behind  it,  and  that  I  was  but  doing 
in  my  place  what  you  and  millions  of  other  Amer- 
icans were  doing  in  their  places,  putting  the 
stamp  of  condemnation  on  the  liquor  traffic,  and 
upon  the  evil  of  drinking,  wherever  we  could. 

We  are  now  coming  to  a  day  when  I  trust  and 
believe  this  evil  will  be  put  under  ban  by  law. 
This  is  the  first  war  in  the  history  of  the  world 
when  any  nation,  as  a  nation,  through  govern- 
ment officials,  has  taken  the  stand  that  our  Gov- 
ernment has  taken  with  reference  to  drink  and 
immorality,  and  when  zones  were  established 
around  all  encampments  and  around  all  training 
stations,  to  protect  young  men  from  the  tempta- 
tions that  assail  them ;  so  that  as  we  end  the  war 
and  contrast  it  with  all  former  wars,  we  find 
that,  compared  to  those  other  wars,  very  few 
men  have  been  incapacitated  by  drink.  We  have 
found  in  war  as  in  peace,  that  efficiency  is  pro- 
moted by  temperance  and  that  you  cannot  have 
a  strong  army  and  a  strong  navy  unless  you  have 
a  sober  army  and  a  sober  navy. 

One  other  matter  I  might  touch  upon  which 

[308] 


DRINK  BANISHED  FROM  THE  NAVY 

I  think  would  be  interesting  as  illustrating  the 
progress  made  along  the  line  of  this  cause  in 
which  we  are  all  engaged,  is  the  legislation  that 
passed  Congress  which  puts  prohibition  in  effect 
in  this  country  on  the  first  of  July,  to  last  until 
complete  demobilization.  There  was  quite  a  fight 
against  that,  particularly  along  the  line  that  dur- 
ing the  war  it  would  lessen  the  product  of  labor, 
and  that  many  men  who  worked  in  the  shipyards, 
the  factories  and  the  munition  plants  would  not 
be  so  willing  to  work  if  they  could  not  get  their 
intoxicating  drinks,  and  there  were  not  wanting 
many  people  who  accepted  that  idea.  In  Great 
Britain,  as  you  know,  when  Lloyd  George  de- 
clared early  in  the  war  that  the  greatest  enemy 
of  Great  Britain  was  not  Germany,  but  drink, 
steps  were  not  taken  that  they  might  well  have 
taken  and  which  all  countries  might  profitably 
have  taken,  to  stop  the  liquor  traffic  during  the 
war.  At  a  hearing  before  one  of  our  Congres- 
sional committees  the  question  came  up  as  to 
labor,  I  was  requested  to  appear  before  the 
Committee,  as  some  of  you  may  remember,  and 
testify  on  the  question  of  how  a  suppression  of 
liquor  consumption  would  affect  shipbuilding.  I 
gave  the  concrete  example  that  at  the  Mare  Is- 
land Navy  Yard  in  California  we  had  built  a  de- 
stroyer in  less  time  than  it  had  been  built  in  any 
other  navy  yard  in  the  world,  and  that  this  had 
been  accomplished  after  we  had  put  the  dry  zone 
around  Mare  Island  Navy  Yard.  You  cannot 

[309] 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

argue,  as  Josh  Billings  says,  "agin  a  success." 
I  put  the  concrete  example  of  our  construction  at 
the  Norfolk  Navy  Yard  and  in  the  Charleston 
Navy  Yard,  and  at  the  Mare  Island  Navy  Yard 
and  at  navy  yards  in  states  that  were  dry,  against 
the  navy  yards  in  the  states  that  were  not  dry, 
with  the  result  that  at  least  the  efficiency  was 
quite  as  great  where  the  men  did  not  leave  their 
work  to  take  their  mid-day  drink  as  in  those 
places  where  they  did.  That  argument,  I  think, 
had  convincing  effect,  just  as  one  fact  is  better 
than  a  thousand  theories. 

I  am  very  much  pleased  to  be  with  you ;  I  thank 
you  for  the  honor  you  have  done  me,  and  I  trust 
that  we  shall  soon,  as  the  legislatures  meet  in  the 
spring,  be  able  to  have  a  great  ratification  meet- 
ing, when  we  shall  find  that  enough  states  have 
ratified  the  amendment  to  make  this  country  the 
pioneer  in  the  world  in  real  Temperance  as  it  has 
been  the  pioneer  in  Liberty  and  Humanity. 


XXXIV 

ITALY  AN  INSPIRATION 

Whether  fighting  in  the  Italian  army,  or  marching 
under  the  Stars  and  Stripes,  the  sons  of  Italy  who  live 
on  these  shores  were  enlisted  in  a  common  army  fight- 
ing for  a  common  liberty  for  a  common  humanity.  May 
I  not  express  the  hope  that  one  of  the  blessings  that  will 
blossom  from  the  ashes  of  this  war  will  be  a  perfect 
Americanization  of  all  who  find  hospitable  homes  in 
our  land? 

Italy-America  Society,  New  York,  January  26,  1919. 

NEVER  in  the  history  of  the  world  were  the 
peoples  of  two  nations  more  closely  knit  together 
in  the  glow  of  fellowship  than  in  the  first  days  of 
this  New  Year,  when  President  Wilson  was  the 
guest  of  Italy.  His  reception  marked  a  new  high- 
tide  in  national  welcomes,  for  while  it  came  first 
from  King  and  leader,  it  found  its  deepest  ex- 
pression in  the  greetings  of  the  whole  people.  He 
voiced  American  sentiment  when,  speaking  at 
Turin,  he  made  reference  to  Baron  Sonnino's  ar- 
gument for  the  extension  of  the  sovereignty  of 
Italy  over  the  Italian  population.  "I  am  sorry," 
said  the  President,  "we  cannot  let  you  have  New 
York,  which,  I  understand,  is  the  greatest  Italian 
city  in  the  world,"  and  he  added,  "I  am  proud 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

to  be  the  President  of  a  nation  which  contains 
so  large  an  element  of  the  Italian  race,  because 
as  a  student  of  literature  I  know  the  genius  that 
has  originated  in  this  great  nation,  the  genius  of 
thought  and  of  poetry  and  of  philosophy  and  of 
music,  and  I  am  happy  to  be  a  part  of  a  nation 
which  is  enriched  and  made  better  by  the  intro- 
duction of  such  elements  of  genius  and  of  in- 
spiration." 

As  our  President  visited  the  Sacred  Ways  in 
Rome,  Boni  pointed  out  the  tomb  of  Romulus  and 
other  sacred  places,  and  presenting  him  with 
branches  of  laurel  and  myrtle  said:  "To-day  I 
offer  these  symbols  to  you  the  upholder  of  the 
freedom  and  civilization  of  peoples,"  to  which 
the  President  replied:  "These  sacred  symbols 
speak  a  great  and  profound  language."  The  re- 
ply of  the  great  archaeologist  is  the  most  beauti- 
ful tribute  yet  paid  to  our  countrymen.  He  said : 
"You  Americans  have  something  more  sacred 
still,  but  you  carry  it  in  your  hearts — a  love  for 
humanity."  To  be  worthy  of  that  tribute  is  in- 
spiration and  incentive  to  Americans,  native 
or  foreign  born. 

It  was  an  epoch-making  day  in  the  world's  his- 
tory— was  August  first,  1914 — when  the  Italian 
Government  informed  Germany  and  Austria  that 
the  obligations  made  under  the  Triple  Alliance 
applied  only  to  defensive  warfare.  When  the 
Prussian  autocrat,  arrogant  and  dominating, 
looking  with  envious  eyes  upon  world  treasure 


ITALY  AN  INSPIRATION 

and  world  dominion,  hurled  his  legions  into  Bel- 
gium, he  never  dreamed  that  his  breach  of  faith 
would  shock  the  conscience  of  men  in  the  Eternal 
City.  He  was  so  confident  of  his  control  of  the 
Triple  Alliance  that  he  gave  little  consideration 
to  the  Italian  action.  Did  not  Italy  depend  upon 
Germany  for  its  coal?  Was  it  not  bound  by  its 
membership  with  Germany  and  Austria  to  stand 
united?  As  his  cohorts  rushed  forward,  disre- 
garding solemn  treaties,  into  the  very  heart  of 
France,  the  fear  of  what  Italy  would  do  did  not 
disturb  his  dream  of  conquest.  If  he  gave  any 
thought  to  the  attitude  of  the  Italian  people  it 
was  to  reflect  that,  though  he  regarded  a  treaty 
as  "a  scrap  of  paper,"  the  Italians  held  their  word 
as  their  bond.  In  the  respect  he  paid  to  their 
fidelity  he  felt  assurance  of  victory  in  the  onrush 
of  his  army,  long  trained  for  "the  Day"  which 
had  at  last  arrived.  But  he  did  not  pause  to  read 
the  terms  of  the  Triple  Alliance  and  note  that 
Italy's  plighted  word  was  confined  only  to  a  de- 
fensive war.  To  aid  in  a  war  for  oppression,  to 
be  a  party  to  the  rape  of  Belgium,  the  undoing 
of  France,  to  the  crushing  of  Russia  and  the 
cruel  warfare  against  non-combatants  and 
women  and  children  was  never  embraced  in  any 
pact  to  which  Italy  was  a  party.  These  crimes 
were  abhorrent  to  the  spirit  of  Italy  and  it 
promptly  made  known  that  it  had  made  no  cove- 
nant  with  brutality  and  no  compact  with  cruelty. 
The  months  of  neutrality  which  ensued  were 


testing  days  for  Italy.  Its  people  hated  war,  they 
loved  the  delights  of  home  and  the  haven  which 
only  peace  secures.  With  the  powerful,  well- 
organized  and  well-equipped  legions  of  the  Cen- 
tral Empires  menacing  it  on  land  and  sea,  it  was 
natural  that  the  people  should  deliberate  before 
becoming  a  combatant  against  their  old  allies. 
They  hurried  nothing  in  their  decision.  It  was  a 
step  that  might  indeed  invite  pause  and  contem- 
plation. The  argument  for  a  permanent  neutral- 
ity was  strong  and  compelling,  viewed  from  every 
standpoint  that  left  out  national  conscience  and 
love  of  world  freedom.  But  when  a  free  nation, 
animated  by  love  of  fairness  and  devotion  to  lib- 
erty, must  choose  between  its  own  material  in- 
terests and  its  ideals,  there  is  but  one  choice  to 
make,  and  Italy  with  a  noble  spirit  made  that 
choice  deliberately,  resolutely,  nobly.  Its  proud 
decision  was  worthy  of  its  most  heroic  past,  and 
gave  full  evidence,  if  proof  were  needed,  that  the 
Italy  of  this  decade  is  the  same  Italy  in  purpose 
and  in  spirit  that  has  made  it  for  centuries  the 
inspiration  of  courage,  literature,  art  and  con- 
cern for  the  common  weal. 

It  was  on  May  24th  that  war  against  Austria 
was  declared  and  the  King  of  Italy  left  for  the 
front.  That  was  the  day  of  supreme  decision. 
As  a  country  Italy  crossed  its  Rubicon  and  never 
again  was  there  thought,  or  time  either,  for  de- 
bate. From  that  moment  the  Italians  were  of 
the  conquering  hosts  of  the  chivalric  army  of 

[314] 


ITALY  AN  INSPIRATION 

Crusaders.  With  a  frowning  frontier,  almost 
impassable,  the  valorous  Italian  troops  through 
the  perils  of  snow  and  ice  stormed  the  garrisoned 
mountains  with  ah  intrepid  courage  which  re- 
called the  epic  days  when  Rome  was  the  ruler  of 
the  world.  And  then  came  days  of  peril,  of  re- 
treat, of  defeats,  of  suffering,  of  anguish  when 
the  oncoming  Austro-Germans  poured  like  an 
avalanche  of  destruction  into  the  quiet  valleys, 
menaced  Venice,  and  caused  even  Rome  to  trem- 
ble lest  the  worst  should  come. 

In  those  dark  hours — can  we  ever  forget  them  ? 
— the  civilization  of  the  world  seemed  to  hang 
in  the  balance.  Not  more  in  Rome  and  in  Venice 
than  in  Washington  and  in  New  York  was  there 
the  dread  of  possible  further  advances.  But 
those  ominous  days  of  peril  were  never  days  of 
doubt.  Somehow,  although  the  news  chilled  the 
blood,  it  had  its  quick  reaction.  Italian  troops, 
who  had  been  surprised  and  pressed  back  after 
long  months  of  waiting  and  privation,  summoned 
the  stern  stuff  of  which  they  were  made ;  English 
and  French  troops  hastened  to  aid  their  outnum- 
bered associates,  and  a  detail  of  Americans  who 
made  up  in  daring  what  they  lacked  in  numbers, 
united  to  answer  the  world  prayer  that  the  line 
on  the  Piave  would  be  held.  "Can  they  hold  the 
line?"  was  whispered  in  America  as  in  Greece 
and  in  Japan  and  in  the  isles  of  the  sea  as  upon 
the  Continent.  Somehow  we  felt,  rather  than 
reasoned,  that  the  line  would  be  held.  It  was  the 

[315] 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

Line  between  free  government  and  government 
imposed  by  absolutism.  Upon  that  ancient  plain, 
rich  with  the  blood  of  brave  men  of  old,  the  world 
instinctively  felt  the  issue  transcended  any  since 
the  Battle  of  the  Marne.  Not  once  but  half  a 
dozen  times,  as  on  the  Marne  and  at  Verdun,  on 
the  Piave  the  surface  indications  pointed  to  Ger- 
man victory.  But  there  never  was  a  moment 
from  August,  1914,  until  November  nth,  1918, 
when  victory  was  possible  to  the  army  of  des- 
potism. Not  one.  In  every  crisis  when  men 
scarcely  dared  to  hope,  there  was  a  voice — shall 
we  call  it  the  still  small  voice? — that  within  us 
gave  confidence  and  assurance  that  Victory, 
though  baffled  oft,  would  perch  on  the  banner  of 
Right.  And  this  faith  in  the  voices  that  could 
be  heard  only  by  ears  attuned  to  catch  the  whis- 
perings of  the  God  of  Right,  was  the  invisible 
armor  which  no  projectile  could  pierce,  no  bomb 
could  jar,  and  no  weapons  could  penetrate.  If 
the  Germans  had  destroyed  Venice,  if  they  had 
marched  through  Paris,  and  if  their  fleet  had 
landed  troops  in  Great  Britain,  disastrous  as  these 
events  would  have  seemed  to  our  narrow  vision, 
they  could  never  have  won  the  conflict.  For  they 
fought  against  spirit,  and  the  Force  of  an  Ideal 
is  always  conqueror  over  the  Ideal  of  Force. 

The  people  of  America  have  been  privileged 
during  the  war  to  welcome  to  our  country  distin- 
guished missions  from  all  the  allied  nations — I 
recall  with  peculiar  pleasure  the  coming  of  the 


ITALY  AN  INSPIRATION 

Italian  mission  headed  by  the  Prince  of  Udine, 
a  gallant  officer  of  the  Italian  Navy.  We  cannot 
forget  the  words  of  his  country's  re-dedication 
uttered  by  him  at  the  tomb  of  Washington  on 
May  27th,  1917:  "In  the  name  of  my  cousin,  the 
King  of  Italy,  and  the  people  of  Italy,  I  solemnly 
declare  that  we  shall  never  lay  down  our  arms 
until  our  liberty  and  the  liberty  of  the  peoples 
suffering  with  us  has  been  rendered  safe  against 
all  surprises  and  violence,  and  our  victory  must 
be  that  of  progress  and  justice."  Through  many 
weary  months,  though  overtaken  by  "surprises" 
and  forced  back  by  "violence"  which  the  Prince 
may  have  foreseen,  the  spirit  of  Italy,  as  breathed 
at  Washington's  tomb,  rose  superior  to  every  foe. 
May  we  not  truly  feel  that  the  prayer  of  Udine, 
"May  the  spirit  of  George  Washington  watch  us 
and  light  us  on  our  way,"  was  answered  in  all 
fullness  on  the  eleventh  of  November,  1918?  The 
answer  to  that  prayer  brought  joy  not  only  to 
those  Italians  who  have  never  left  the  homeland, 
but  it  gave  a  thrill  and  a  gladness  that  will  abide 
to  Italians  residing  in  America,  many  of  whom 
had  hastened  to  Italy  to  fight  with  their  colors 
at  the  first  outbreak  of  war  and  all  of  whom  by 
deed  or  contribution  had  helped  toward  the  vic- 
tory which  we  celebrate  to-day.  Whether  fight- 
ing in  the  Italian  army  or  marching  under  the 
Stars  and  Stripes,  the  sons  of  Italy  who  live  on 
these  shores  were  enlisted  in  a  common  army 

[317] 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

fighting  for  a  common  liberty  for  a  common  hu- 
manity. 

May  I  not  express  the  hope  that  one  of  the 
blessings  that  will  blossom  from  the  ashes  of  this 
war  will  be  a  perfect  Americanization  of  all  who 
find  hospitable  homes  in  our  land?  All  men  of 
Italian  birth,  and  all  men  rearing  their  families 
in  this  country,  no  matter  where  born,  owe  it  to 
themselves  and  their  children  to  become  voting 
citizens  of  the  United  States.  It  is  only  in  this 
way  in  time  of  peace  they  can  do  their  part  to 
insure  the  equal  justice  for  which  they  fought. 
Citizenship  is  alike  a  privilege  and  a  duty.  This 
war  has  shown  that  Italians  who  were  natural- 
ized citizens  did  not  love  their  mother  country 
less.  But  they  wisely  gave  first  allegiance  and 
loyal  support  to  the  country  that  had  opened  its 
doors  to  them  and  been  blessed  by  their  coming. 
Let  us  celebrate  this  victory  by  a  resolve  that  the 
day  of  alien  residence  has  passed  and  that  those 
who  live  in  America  will  hasten,  as  rapidly  as 
laws  permit,  to  become  citizens  in  the  full  mean- 
ing of  that  enfranchisement.  Likewise  let  us 
counsel  Americans  who  are  beckoned  to  find  busi- 
ness and  residence  in  other  lands  to  become  do- 
mesticated and  to  become  full  partners  in  the 
nation  where  they  choose  to  abide.  They  will  not 
love  America  less,  but  they  will  add  to  their  use- 
fulness and  the  better  perform  their  civic  duties. 
In  no  nation  should  there  be  divided  allegiance. 
Every  nation  has  the  right  to  expect  of  those 


ITALY  AN  INSPIRATION 

who  seek  its  portals  that  they  shall  enter  in  with- 
out any  string  tied  to  their  full  allegiance,  and 
the  outward  and  visible  proof  is  citizenship  and 
all  the  opportunities  and  responsibilities  it  carries 
with  it.  We  love  our  fellow  citizens  of  Italian 
birth  but  they  are  not  hyphenated.  They  are 
American,  having  brought  here  the  lessons  of 
liberty  which  they  will  employ  in  the  mutual  duty 
of  preserving  all  of  justice  which  men  of  both 
and  joint  blood  have  won  and  preserved. 

I  would  like,  at  this  time,  to  publicly  acknowl- 
edge the  debt  of  the  American  Navy,  in  common 
with  all  other  navies  of  the  world,  to  the  Italian 
naval  constructors  whose  daring  and  imagination 
have  more  than  once  led  the  way  in  the  develop- 
ment of  modern  ships  of  war.  All  nations  are 
deeply  interested  in  the  new  designs  of  other  na- 
tions, in  the  matter  of  ships  and  their  armament, 
but  I  can  assure  you  that  information  from  no 
other  nation,  as  to  their  new  thoughts  in  the  con- 
struction of  battleships,  is  more  eagerly  sought 
for  than  that  from  the  Italians.  That  same  fine 
daring  of  thought,  that  same  brilliancy  of  imag- 
ination and  ability  to  see  beyond  the  present  and 
practicable  into  the  realms  of  the  intangible,  that 
same  ability  to  clothe  in  words  and  make  definite 
and  understandable  the  vague  dreams  of  other 
men  which  has  made  your  literature  from  time 
immemorial  the  world's  model,  which  has  made 
the  fame  of  your  poets  everlasting,  and  the  bril- 
liancy of  your  scholars  unequaled,  has  shown  it- 

[319] 


THE  NAVY  AND  T,HE  NATION 

self  in  your  naval  construction,  and  in  those  in- 
ventions which  have  done  so  much  to  revolution- 
ize modern  naval  warfare. 

We  shall  never  forget  that  it  was  your  Mar- 
coni, an  honored  member  of  the  Italian  mission 
in  1917,  who  trained  the  electric  spark  to  leap 
at  man's  bidding  boldly  into  space  and  carry  his 
messages  through  the  air,  instead  of  being  bound 
slavishly  to  the  electric  cable.  As  a  result  of  his 
imagination  and  daring,  our  ships  to-day  talk 
freely  across  hundreds,  even  thousands,  of  miles 
of  watery  waste,  and  space  and  time  have  been 
practically  annihilated,  so  far  as  the  power  of 
man  to  communicate  with  man  is  concerned. 

It  was  your  great  naval  constructor  Cuniberti 
and  your  other  equally  famous  constructors  who 
first  dared  the  "all-big-gun  ship,"  the  father  of 
the  modern  super-dreadnaught.  It  was  these 
same  geniuses  who  first  dared  the  three-gun  tur- 
ret, which  we  Americans  have  so  gladly  adopted 
in  our  modern  sea  monsters.  These  are  but  some 
of  the  things  to  which  we  are  indebted  to  Italian 
naval  genius. 

In  man's  conquest  of  the  air  your  same  ability 
to  imagine  the  unimaginable,  and  from  thence 
proceed  to  make  it  not  only  imaginable  but  prac- 
tical, put  your  airplane  development  in  the  fore-- 
front of  the  world's  achievements  in  its  mastery 
over  what  has,  from  time  immemorial,  been  con- 
sidered the  one  element  unconquerable  by  man. 

And  if  you  have  shown  through  many  years 
[320] 


ITALY  AN  INSPIRATION 

your  brilliancy  of  thought  and  mind  in  construc- 
tion and  invention,  so  also  in  this  war  have  you 
shown  the  same  daring  and  audacity  in  your 
naval  personnel.  There  is  no  finer  bit  of  auda- 
cious heroism  recorded  in  this  war  than  the  ex- 
ploit of  Major  Rosetti  of  the  naval  engineers  and 
Lieutenant  Paolucci  in  the  sinking  of  the  Aus- 
trian dreadnaught  Veribis  Unitis,  in  the  safe- 
guarded harbor  of  Pola.  Every  red-blooded  man 
thrilled  with  admiration  when  the  story  was  first 
given  to  the  world ;  how  the  great  Austrian  man- 
of-war  lay  behind  all  of  the  most  cunningly  de- 
vised barriers  that  naval  genius  could  construct, 
arrogantly  secure  and  apparently  as  safe  from 
danger  as  if  no  war  existed — around  it  barrier 
after  barrier  of  mines,  entanglements  and  nets; 
how  these  two  brilliant  Italians  devised  a  tiny 
boat,  silent,  fast,  small,  so  small  indeed  that  the 
officers  themselves  could  not  occupy  it,  but 
dressed  in  waterproof  suits,  allowed  themselves 
to  be  dragged  behind,  while  they  directed  its 
course.  How,  carrying  two  powerful  clockwork 
bombs,  they  passed  silently  through  every  ob- 
struction, slipped  in  the  darkness  of  the  night  to 
within  a  short  distance  of  the  ship  itself,  and  then 
swam  with  their  bombs  to  the  very  side  of  the  bat- 
tleship to  which  they  then  fixed  their  terrible 
weapons;  how,  with  the  fine  chivalry  that  goes 
with  all  really  brave  men,  when  their  presence  was 
detected,  and  they  were  dragged  on  board  the 
doomed  vessel,  too  late  to  save  the  ship,  they  in- 

[321] 


THE  NAVY  AND  TJHE  NATION 

formed  the  Captain  in  order  that  no  lives  should 
be  needlessly  wasted.  We  American  Navy  men 
envy  you  those  two  officers  and  those  others  who, 
at  various  times,  in  less  spectacular  ways,  but 
with  almost  equal  daring,  have  done  their  part 
towards  humbling  the  pride  of  the  Austrian  fleet. 

We  like  to  think  that  it  is  this  quality  of  in- 
ventiveness, of  audacity,  of  imaginative  genius 
which  makes  the  Italians  so  American  in  their 
nature  as  to  bring  about  the  real  absorption  into 
our  own  nation  of  so  many  hundreds  of  thou- 
sands of  Italy's  sons. 

As  I  look  at  it,  an  Italian  is  a  good  part  Amer- 
ican before  he  comes  to  America,  on  account  of 
these  very  qualities,  and  it  is  not  surprising  to 
find  so  large  a  proportion  of  our  countrymen  de- 
scendants of  Italian  parents. 

If  it  is  true  that  the  American  is  now  a  com- 
posite of  those  forefathers  who  have  emigrated 
from  the  ancient  countries;  if  it  is  true,  as  some 
claim,  that  our  various  qualities  which  we  like  to 
think  distinguish  us  from  all  other  nations,  when 
analyzed  consist  in  this  particular  quality  coming 
from  one  nation,  and  that  particular  quality  from 
another,  then  I  think  that  perhaps  the  greatest 
contributor  to  American  daring,  and  American 
imagination,  is  that  great  nation  which  has  stood 
preeminent  on  the  Mediterranean  since  the  Cae- 
sars. Americans  have  been  called  "the  Romans  of 
the  West."  It  is  a  proud  title,  and  we  accept  it 
as  proof  of  kinship  in  valor  and  in  virtue. 

[322] 


XXXV 

WOMEN'S  WORK  IN  WAR 

There  was  no  great  policy  inaugurated  or  carried  out 
without  women's  counsel  as  well  as  women's  work  at 
home  and  at  the  front.  When  the  history  of  this  war  is 
written  —  and  it  will  be  rich  in  deeds  of  chivalry  —  the 
work  of  the  Woman's  Council  of  National  Defense,  ap- 
pointed by  the  President,  will  be  given  high  place  for 
what  it  did  and  what  it  inspired. 

Congressional  Club,  Washington,  February  /, 


"Do  not  talk  about  women  but  tell  us  about  the 
Navy,"  said  the  chairman  of  your  committee  who 
honored  me  with  the  invitation  to  address  the 
Congressional  Club.  The  time  was  when  there 
was  not  a  woman  in  the  Navy,  and  it  was  sup- 
posed to  be  one  institution  that  could  move  on  suc- 
cessfully without  women.  But  even  then  the  in- 
spiration of  the  men  of  the  sea  was  found  in  the 
women  they  loved  —  sailor  men  are  the  best  lovers 
in  the  world,  and,  contrary  to  the  popular  notion, 
the  truest.  To-day,  however,  the  Navy  has 
learned  that  when  increased  burdens  are  imposed 
by  war,  the  men  must  send  out  SOS  calls  to 
women  to  give  help  in  carrying  on  its  operations. 

[323] 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

We  not  only  have  women  nurses — and  nobody 
deserves  decorations  of  honor  more  than  these 
ministering  angels — but  we  have  women  yeomen 
and  women  stenographers  and  women  doing 
every  character  of  office  work  and  doing  it  so  well 
we  find  we  cannot  get  along  without  them. 
Women  have  not  stopped  with  these  jobs  re- 
garded heretofore  as  woman's  work,  but  in  the 
Navy  they  have  been  busy  fashioning  torpedoes, 
and  I  have  seen  them  making  guns  and  munitions 
and  carrying  on  almost  every  character  of  work 
that  a  man  does  and  doing  it  well.  In  some  parts 
of  the  manufacture  of  torpedoes  their  deftness 
and  quick  touch  make  them  better  than  men.  I 
can  never  forget  a  beautiful  young  Navy  girl  in 
overalls,  hands  begrimed  as  she  worked  away  on 
the  death-dealing  torpedoes,  saying  to  me :  "I  like 
it.  You  know  it  makes  me  feel  I  am  really  in  the 
war  and  helping  to  win  it.  But" — and  her  bon- 
nie  smile  made  the  grim  workshop  as  homelike  as 
a  well-lighted  parlor — "it  is  rather  tough,  isn't  it? 
All  my  life  I  have  wished  to  make  enough  money 
to  buy  some  really  fine  clothes,  and  now  for  the 
first  time  I  am  making  enough  to  fill  my  heart's 
desire,  and  here  I  am  dressed  in  overalls !" 

It  was  this  cheerful  and  happy  spirit,  whether 
working  in  factory  or  plant  or  knitting  or  giving 
comforts  to  men  in  uniform,  that  characterized 
American  women  from  the  beginning  to  the  end 
of  the  war.  They  sent  their  husbands  and  their 
sons  to  the  front  with  a  brave  spirit  and  turned 

[324] 


WOMEN'S  WORK  IN  WAR 

their  hands  to  toil  to  make  it  easier  and  to  do 
their  share  of  work  and  sacrifice.  But  the  big 
thing  they  did  was  not  the  indispensable  work 
with  their  hands.  It  was  the  heartening  of  the 
men  which  their  cheer  and  courage  imparted. 
They  were  the  first  line  of  defense  everywhere,  at 
home  and  abroad,  giving  coffee  and  sandwiches 
here,  giving  smiles  and  welcome  there,  and  moth- 
ering the  boys  going  across  the  seas,  some  of 
them  never  to  come  back  to  their  loving  women- 
folk. Men  do  not  fight  for  land  or  for  the  bunt- 
ing in  the  flag  we  love,  but  for  women  and  the 
home  which  some  woman  makes  bright  with  her 
love  and  charm.  You  cannot  think,  therefore,  of 
the  boy  going  down  by  the  submarine  stiletto  or 
falling  from  the  projectiles  hurled  from  German 
trenches  without  realizing  that  his  last  thought 
was  of  some  dear  woman's  face  and  his  high  re- 
solve to  be  worthy  of  her  confidence  in  him. 

It  was  everywhere  and  in  everything  that 
women  led  and  gave  the  strength  to  win  the  war. 
Asked  if  it  was  not  more  than  she  could  bear  to 
see  both  her  sons  go  across,  one  mother  voiced 
the  universal  sentiment  of  American  women :  "It 
is  hard,  very  hard.  Only  one  thing  in  the  world 
could  be  harder  to  bear  and  that  would  be  if  in 
this  heroic  struggle  they  had  not  been  eager  to  go 
and  play  the  part  of  brave  men."  Do  you  ask 
whence  came  the  spirit  that  hastened  victory  ?  It 
was  from  women  whose  patriotism  rose  superior 
to  their  yearning  for  their  first  born  ?  There  was 

[325] 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

no  great  policy  inaugurated  or  carried  out  with- 
out women's  counsel  as  well  as  women's  work  at 
home  and  at  the  front.  When  the  history  of  this 
war  is  written — and  it  will  be  rich  in  deeds  of 
chivalry — the  work  of  the  Woman's  Council  of 
National  Defense,  appointed  by  the  President, 
will  be  given  high  place  for  what  it  did  and  what 
it  inspired.  Headed  by  that  grand  ever-young 
woman  (if  she  were  a  man  I  would  call  her  "that 
grand  old  man,"  but  my  Southern  chivalry  for- 
bids) Dr.  Anna  Howard  Shaw,  the  women  were 
the  very  head  and  front  and  heart  of  American 
consecration,  American  sacrifice  and  American 
victory.  Like  Henry  Van  Dyke's  Nataline,  every- 
where they  kept  the  light  and  played  the  fife  in 
the  darkest  hours  and  in  the  dreariest  days.  The 
world  can  never  forget  the  fullness  of  their  de- 
votion and  the  completeness  of  the  dedication  of 
their  powers  and  service  and  lives. 

These  women  ask  no  decorations,  receive  no 
promotions,  obtain  no  titles  or  honors  or  emolu- 
ments, and  they  ask  no  thanks  or  recognition. 
They  poured  out  their  hearts,  their  treasure,  their 
efforts,  their  sacrifice  from  love  of  humanity  and 
devotion  to  liberty.  They  proved,  if  anybody 
doubted  it  before,  in  a  thousand  ways  their  right 
to  equal  partnership  in  all  the  blessings  that  came 
from  freedom,  and  it  is  a  reflection  upon  the  jus- 
tice and  chivalry  of  the  men  of  America  that  they 
have  delayed  to  invite  these  women  into  equal 
participation  in  the  privilege  and  duties  of  citi- 

[326] 


WOMEN'S  WORK  IN  WAR 

zenship.  It  would  have  been  a  small  recognition 
of  their  wisdom  and  their  worth  to  have  asked 
American  women  to  share,  as  voters,  with  Amer- 
ican men  the  re-making  of  a  better  and  higher 
national  life.  Even  Germany  has  called  women 
to  help  regain  what  ambitious  men  threw  away, 
and  Great  Britain  was  prompt  to  extend  the  right 
to  vote  while  America  withholds  the  ballot  to 
women  who  have  shown,  wherever  they  enjoy 
suffrage,  their  capacity  to  exercise  the  right  as 
wisely  as  their  brothers.  But  the  day  is  near  at 
hand  when  the  men  of  America  will  grant  this 
too-long  delayed  right  to  women,  and  they  will 
more  than  justify  the  wisdom  of  their  full  en- 
franchisement. May  it  be  hastened,  not  as  a 
favor  but  as  a  right.  It  will  secure  a  stronger 
bulwark  to  American  institutions  which  will  bless 
us  only  as  long  as  the  American  home  remains  the 
citadel  of  American  ideals. 


[327] 


XXXVI 

A  COVENANT  OF  PEACE 

The  men  who  signed  what  will  be  called  the  world's 
Magna  Charta  did  not  hastily  draw  up  this  chart  of 
freedom.  They  gave  weeks  to  its  consideration  and 
drew  upon  the  wisdom  of  peace-lovers  of  all  nations 
who  had  looked  forward  to  the  coming  of  this  new  dis- 
pensation and  made  preparation  for  it.  It  has  been 
hailed  with  joy  in  all  nations,  but  here  and  there  is  a 
note  of  doubt  and  distrust.  Honest  doubters  will  be- 
come its  ablest  champions,  but  militarists  see  in  it  no 
rainbow  of  promise  across  the  sky. 

Cathedral  of  St.  John  the  Divine,  New  York,  Feb- 
ruary 16, 


WHEN  the  representatives  of  fourteen  nations, 
sitting  in  Paris,  embracing  the  most  powerful, 
victorious  countries  and  representing  twelve  hun- 
dred million  people,  agreed  upon  a  covenant  of 
peace,  it  was  an  event  in  the  world's  history  sec- 
ond only  to  the  declaration  of  the  shepherds  of 
Bethlehem  :  "We  have  seen  His  star  in  the  East 
and  have  come  to  worship  Him."  Practical  states- 
men, from  Paris  to  Tokio,  with  differing  tradi- 
tions and  speech,  all  spoke  and  understood  the 
same  language  for  the  first  time  since  that  day 
of  Pentecost  at  Jerusalem  when  "men  out  of 
every  nation  under  heaven  heard  them  speak  each 

[328] 


A  COVENANT  OF  PEACE 

in  his  own  language."  The  Scriptures  tell  us, 
"They  were  all  amazed  and  marveled,  saying  one 
to  another :  'Behold  are  not  all  these  which  speak 
Galileans?  And  how  hear  we  every  man  in  our 
own  tongue,  wherein  we  were  born  ...  we  hear 
them  speak  in  our  tongues  the  wonderful  works 
of  God,'  and  they  said  to  one  another,  'What 
meaneth  this  ?' '  And  Peter,  standing  up  before 
men  of  every  tongue,  all  able  to  understand  him, 
concluded  his  illuminating  answer  with  the  ever- 
memorable  words :  "For  the  promise  is  unto  you 
and  unto  your  children,  and  to  all  that  are  afar 
off."  That  promise  to  which  men  have  looked 
for  twenty  centuries  is :  "Peace  on  earth ;  good 
will  toward  men." 

To  us  has  come  the  honor  of  living  in  this 
eventful  day,  when,  in  the  fullness  of  time,  "after 
massacre,  after  murder,"  this  prophecy  is  being 
fulfilled,  and  Christians  and  Jews  and  men  of  all 
nations  and  creeds  have  agreed  upon  a  covenant 
for  the  end  of  all  wars  of  aggression,  and  our 
ears  have  heard  the  bells  ring  in  "a  thousand 
years  of  peace." 

The  men  who  signed  what  will  be  called  the 
world's  Magna  Charta  did  not  hastily  draw  up 
this  chart  of  freedom.  They  gave  weeks  to  its 
consideration  and  drew  upon  the  wisdom  of  peace- 
lovers  of  all  nations  who  had  looked  forward  to 
the  coming  of  this  new  dispensation  and  made 
preparation  for  it.  It  has  been  hailed  with  joy 
in  all  the  nations,  but  here  and  there  is  a  note  of 

[329] 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

doubt  and  distrust.  Honest  doubters  will  become 
its  ablest  champions,  but  militarists  see  in  it  no 
rainbow  of  promise  across  the  sky.  Amid  the 
acclaim  of  the  people  of  fourteen  nations,  and 
the  thanksgiving  of  the  peoples  of  small  nations 
yet  without  voice,  here  and  there  we  hear  utter- 
ances of  distrust  and  jeremiads  and  criticism. 
But  could  we  expect  such  a  revolution  in  world 
thought  and  world  policy  without  apprehension 
and  division  and  even  denunciation? 

The  parallel  between  the  adoption  of  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  United  States  and  that  of  the 
League  of  Nations  for  Peace  is  perfect.  No 
more  patriotic  body  of  men  ever  assembled  to 
form  a  government  of  the  people,  by  the  people 
and  for  the  people  than  the  great  men  who  com- 
posed the  Constitutional  Convention.  When  it 
was  presented  as  the  result  of  their  mature  wis- 
dom, some  men  of  fervor  and  love  of  liberty  like 
Patrick  Henry  decried  it  as  a  centralized  instru- 
ment which  would  destroy  the  rights  of  the  states 
and  the  liberty  of  the  people.  "It  is  a  jugger- 
naut," cried  doubters.  "It  is  a  rope  of  sand," 
declared  those  who  wished  a  government  fash- 
ioned more  on  monarchical  lines.  Both  were 
wrong.  It  was  neither  destructive  of  the  reserved 
rights  of  the  states,  nor  a  weak  instrument. 

Time  has  demonstrated  its  strength  and  flexi- 
bility and  confounded  all  who  had  forebodings  of 
ill  in  the  written  compass  by  which  our  mariners 
have  safely  steered  the  good  old  Ship  of  State, 

[330] 


A  COVENANT  OF  PEACE 

freighted  with  the  hopes  and  fears  and  happiness 
not  only  of  its  millions  of  passengers,  but  with 
the  blessings  and  safeguards  of  liberty  for  all 
humanity.  We  remember  Madison  and  Hamil- 
ton, the  representatives  of  the  two  schools  of 
thought  of  that  day,  and  applaud  their  wisdom 
and  vision  in  securing  the  ratification  of  the  Con- 
stitution, while  we  have  almost  forgotten  those  of 
little  faith.  In  the  future,  as  men  look  back  to 
this  hour,  when  the  fate  of  the  world  depends 
upon  this  League  of  Nations,  posterity  will 
applaud  the  forward-looking  statesmanship  of 
Woodrow  Wilson  who  had  large  part  in  in- 
spiring and  fashioning  this  immortal  document, 
and  the  distinguished  and  ardent  lover  of  Peace, 
William  Howard  Taft,  who  is  abundant  in  labors 
and  in  leadership  at  home  in  support  of  the  noble 
principle  to  which  he  has  given  his  best  thought 
and  untiring  effort. 

Not  long  ago  Lloyd  George  asked  this  ques- 
tion :  "Are  we  to  lapse  back  into  the  old  national 
rivalries,  animosities,  competitive  armaments,  or 
are  we  to  initiate  the  reign  on  earth  of  the  Prince 
of  Peace?"  The  representatives  of  fourteen  na- 
tions made  the  answer  that  preserves  the  fruits 
won  by  the  valor  of  allied  fighters,  and  the  peo- 
ples of  all  the  world  will  thunder  their  approval. 

I  have  sometimes  wondered  what  might  have 
been  the  reflection,  in  his  sere  and  yellow  leaf,  of 
an  American  given  the  opportunity  to  sign  the 
Declaration  of  Independence,  who  had  hesitated 

[330 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

and  doubted,  and  finally  decided  to  withhold  his 
name  and  his  support  in  the  hour  when,  as  Frank- 
lin happily  phrased  it,  "We  must  hang  together 
or  we  will  hang  separately."  Can  you  imagine 
the  feelings  of  his  sons  and  grandsons  as  they 
came  to  manhood  and  felt  they  had  been  robbed 
of  a  priceless  heritage  because  of  an  ancestor's 
quibbles  and  fears  and  doubts?  A  score  of  years 
hence,  when  the  League  of  Peace  has  given  us 
a  "warless  world,"  for  which  even  Tennyson 
dared  not  hope,  though  he  toyed  with  the  dream, 
what  think  you  will  be  the  unavailing  regret  of 
any  man,  privileged  to  give  it  his  support,  whose 
lack  of  faith  in  the  New  Day  of  World  Ideals 
translated  into  World  Realities,  permitted  some 
imaginary  or  other  reason  to  put  him  on  record 
against  this  document  of  manifest  destiny?  And 
when  he  stands  before  the  bar  of  his  children, 
what  answer  can  he  offer  that  will  not  make  them 
ashamed  that  he  was  found  wanting  in  the  hour 
of  the  world's  liberation  from  the  curse  of  war? 
In  these  latter  days  the  world  has  been  buffeted 
upon  the  waves  of  war  and  anguish  and  tragedy 
unspeakable.  The  ravages  of  shot  and  shell  have 
pierced  millions  of  hearts.  Men  have  lost  faith  in 
the  old  material  gods  they  once  trusted.  In  the 
final  test  it  was  revealed  that  they  had  feet  of 
clay.  Before  German  greed  converted  the  con- 
tinents into  armed  camps,  many  of  us  believed  the 
great  financial  houses  of  Germany,  naturally  op- 
posed to  war,  and  the  hosts  of  labor  which  in  the 

[332] 


A  COVENANT  OF  PEACE 

last  analysis  must  bear  the  brunt  of  war,  were 
stronger  than  Prussian  militarism,  but  the  posi- 
tion of  bankers  and  labor  was  based  upon  their 
material  interests  and  not  rooted  in  the  hatred 
of  conquest  and  the  love  of  justice.  The  German 
banker  who  opposed  war  did  so  because  he  feared 
the  effect  upon  his  securities.  The  German  la- 
borer who  hated  war  was  influenced  by  the 
thought  of  lost  income,  the  danger  to  his  life  and 
the  sacrifices  it  would  entail  upon  his  family,  not 
by  the  spirit  of  "good  will  toward  men." 

This  war  taught  us  that  Money  and  Finance 
and  Labor  were  impotent  against  the  cruel  tyr- 
anny of  Autocracy.  Indeed  we  have  come  to  see 
everywhere  that  the  God  of  the  Dollar  is  dross, 
and  that  materialism  has  no  power  to  bring  com- 
fort or  endue  with  strength.  The  light  of  Learn- 
ing and  Science  shone  dimly  as  men  groped  their 
way  through  trenches  or  kept  vigil  on  darkened 
ships.  Commerce  was  tributary  to  War,  and 
Agriculture  was  valued  only  as  it  gave  sustenance 
to  fighting  men.  Statesmanship  was  unable  to 
avert  the  catastrophe  that  engulfed  all  mankind. 

The  world  as  we  knew  it  before  the  Hymn  of 
Hate  was  translated  into  slaughter  and  cruelty 
no  longer  exists.  In  its  place  we  had  one  por- 
tion of  the  so-called  Christian  nations  composing 
the  Central  Empire  maddened  by  the  lust  of  blood, 
and  the  other  portion  suddenly  called  upon  to 
accept  slavery  or  take  up  arms  to  preserve  their 
own  freedom  and  the  liberty  of  future  genera- 

[333] 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

tions.  In  this  modern  Armageddon,  all  things 
which  seemed  stable  have  perished  and  troubled 
men  and  women  looked  in  vain  in  all  that  Man 
had  created  for  consolation  and  inspiration  and 
valor.  Stoicism  alone  of  all  the  false  creeds  re- 
mained to  those  who  had  courage  without  faith 
in  God,  and  while  it  imparted  bravery  in  battle 
it  gave  no  warmth  to  the  heart,  no  glow  to  the 
countenance,  no  radiance  in  death.  As  one  by 
one  the  old  foundations  upon  which  men  have 
builded  were  swept  away  by  the  tide  of  battle, 
men  struggled  in  the  rushing  waters  for  a  life 
preserver,  not  for  their  bodies,  but  for  their 
souls.  They  did  not  find  it  in  arms  or  munitions, 
in  craft  on  or  under  the  sea,  or  in  the  "airy  na- 
vies grappling  in  the  central  blue."  They  did 
not  find  it  in  the  philosophy  of  Fatalism,  in  the 
hopeless  creed  of  unbelief  in  a  future  life,  in  the 
gods  of  war  and  passion,  or  even  the  gods  of  am- 
bition and  resolution.  In  the  blackness  of  the 
night  of  conflict  no  earthly  glimmer  brightened 
the  pathway  of  nations  or  individuals.  Science 
and  Art  and  Music  girded  no  man  with  strength. 
But  the  Christian  Church,  Protestant  and 
Catholic,  nobly  met  the  challenge  offered  by  war 
in  its  fiery  furnace.  Martyrs  never  went  to  the 
stake  with  more  fortitude  than  millions  of  men, 
reared  in  Christian  homes  and  supported  by 
Christian  faith,  went  into  battle  for  a  righteous 
cause.  Faithful  chaplains,  patriotic  representa- 
tives of  the  Red  Cross,  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  the  Y.  W. 

[334] 


A  COVENANT  OF  PEACE 

C.  A.,  the  Knights  of  Columbus,  the  Salvation 
Army,  the  Jewish  Welfare  Workers,  were  found 
where  the  bravest  love  to  die. 

What  of  the  church  now  in  peace,  in  the  tran- 
sition days,  in  times  of  readjustment  and  recon- 
struction ?  "The  morrow  of  victory  is  more  peril- 
ous than  its  eve,"  said  Mazzini,  and  Clemenceau 
upon  the  signing  of  the  armistice  gave  expression 
to  the  same  truth  when  he  told  his  people :  "We 
are  coming  to  a  difficult  time.  It  is  harder  to  win 
peace  than  to  win  war."  After  war  and  after  ele- 
vation comes  the  natural  relapse  from  discipline 
and  self-restraint.  Across  the  seas  religious  lead- 
ers are  unremitting  in  their  service  to  men  still 
in  uniform,  safeguarding  the  fruits  of  victory. 
Here  at  home,  with  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
young  men,  the  flower  of  our  country,  being  de- 
mobilized, the  imperative  duty  of  the  church  is  to 
give  a  gospel  welcome  of  good  cheer  and  whole- 
some hospitality  to  these  saviors  of  liberty.  "Sin- 
gle men  in  khaki  ain't  no  plaster  saints,"  said 
Kipling.  These  young  men  do  not  all  feel  the 
need  of  continued  self-discipline.  The  call  to  the 
church  is  to  throw  around  them  wholesome  en- 
vironment and  enlist  them  in  the  service  of  the 
church.  No  gospel  of  negation  will  appeal  to 
youths  who  unafraid  went  over  the  top.  The  gos- 
pel which  will  win  their  fealty  is  the  gospel  of 
sweetness  and  light,  help  to  those  who  are 
wounded,  employment  to  the  capable,  justice  and 
brotherhood  with  the  music  of  joy  and  gladness. 

[335] 


TJrIE  NAYY  AND  THE  NATION 

The  founder  of  the  Christian  church  said,  "I  am 
the  Light  of  the  World."  No  church  can  be  of 
His  fold  which  does  not  run  out  to  greet  and  to 
help  the  returning  soldier  and  sailor  and  extend 
fellowship  to  them  and  to  all  others  who  stand  in 
need  of  human  sympathy  and  divine  guidance. 

The  churches  of  America  have  seen  the  vision 
of  the  larger  duty  of  the  New  Church  in  the  New 
Day.  They  know  that  creeds  and  churchanity 
will  neither  save  men  nor  attract  their  attendance. 
Except  the  churches  of  to-day  be  leavened  with 
the  spirit  of  Christ,  which  is  unselfish  and  whole- 
hearted service,  they  will  be  "tinkling  cymbals." 

With  this  larger  comprehension  of  opportunity 
and  responsibility,  this  Inter-Church  World 
Movement  has  been  inaugurated.  It  is  launched 
in  a  day  when  liberality  has  become  a  national 
habit  and  a  national  asset  with  higher  conceptions 
of  man's  duty  to  his  fellows.  We  have  bought 
Liberty  bonds  and  thrift  stamps,  and  we  will  buy 
Victory  bonds  as  an  expression  of  thanksgiving 
for  the  assurance  of  world  peace.  We  have  con- 
tributed in  war  to  every  appeal  for  welfare  work. 
Now  comes  the  appeal  to  the  organization  that  is 
the  inspiration  of  all  philanthropy,  all  benevo- 
lence, of  all  care  for  those  in  need,  of  all  good 
deeds  in  this  life  and  all  hope  for  immortality,  the 
Church  of  the  Living  God.  Having  heard  the 
call  to  the  useful  reflected  lights,  we  will  not  fail 
in  the  call  of  the  divine  institution  which  has  the 
Light  of  the  World  in  its  keeping. 

[336] 


XXXVII 


JULY  3,  1917. 

MY  DEAR  MR.  SECRETARY:  Word  has  just  come  to 
the  War  Department  that  the  last  ships  conveying 
Gen.  Pershing's  expeditionary  force  to  France  arrived 
safe  to-day.  As  you  know,  the  Navy  assumed  the  re- 
sponsibility for  the  safety  of  these  ships  on  the  sea 
and  through  the  danger  zone. 

The  ships  themselves  and  their  convoys  were  in  the 
hands  of  the  Navy,  and  now  that  they  have  arrived, 
and  carried,  without  the  loss  of  a  man,  our  soldiers 
who  are  the  first  to  represent  America  in  the  battle 
for  democracy,  I  beg  leave  to  tender  to  you,  to  the 
Admiral,  and  to  the  Navy,  the  hearty  thanks  of  the 
War  Department  and  of  the  Army. 

This  splendid  achievement  is  an  auspicious  begin- 
ning, and  it  has  been  characterized  throughout  by  the 
most  cordial  and  effective  cooperation  between  the  two 
military  services. 

NEWTON  D.  BAKER. 

HON.  JOSEPHUS  DANIELS, 

Secretary  of  the  Navy. 

JULY  4,  1917. 

MY  DEAR  MR.  SECRETARY:  The  Navy  accepts  the 
thanks  and  gratitude  of  the  Army  as  an  expression  of 
fraternal  esteem  rather  than  as  any  acknowledgment  of 
sole  achievement.  The  movement  of  the  expeditionary 
forces,  carried  out  with  such  complete  success,  was 
planned  in  joint  conferences,  and  goes  to  the  people  as 

[337] 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

a  proof  of  the  effectiveness  that  lies  in  intimate  co- 
operation between  the  two  great  military  branches  of 
the  Government. 

This  generous  concentration  of  activities  is  as  thrill- 
ing a  thing  to  me  as  the  safe  passage  of  our  transports 
through  the  ocean  lanes.  With  Army  and  Navy  think- 
ing as  one,  planning  as  one,  fighting  as  one,  the  great 
purpose  of  America  is  expressed  in  terms  of  invinci- 
bility. In  behalf  of  the  men  whose  courage  gave  safe 
conduct  to  courage,  I  send  to  you  the  greetings  of  the 
Navy,  awaiting  in  full  confidence  for  the  day  when 
the  valor  of  your  soldiers  will  write  new  and  splendid 
chapters  in  the  heroic  history  of  our  liberty-loving 
land.  You,  who  have  shared  with  me  the  anxiety  of 
these  days  of  intolerable  suspense,  will  know  the  full 
and  happy  heart  out  of  which  I  write. 

JOSEPHUS  DANIELS. 

HON.  NEWTON  D.  BAKER, 

Secretary  of  War. 


HEROIC  BELGIUM 

Introducing  Baron  Ludovic  Moncheur  and  the  Belgian 
Mission,  Mt.  Vernon,  June  24,  1917 

The  Belgian  soldiers  at  that  modern  Thermopylae 
wrote  a  new  page  in  the  history  of  the  valor  of  man- 
kind. No  longer  do  we  need  the  inspiration  of  the 
immortal  lines,  telling  of  the  heroic  "Charge  of  the 
Light  Brigade."  What  the  Belgians  did  in  and  around 
Liege  furnishes  the  modern  theme  for  the  noblest  epic. 
Their  spirit  of  fortitude  and  their  willingness  to  die  in 
a  resistance  which  they  knew  could  only  harass  their 
foes  are  exceeded  only  by  the  bravery  they  have  dis- 
played in  the  days  of  suffering  and  privation  which 
have  followed.  In  all  the  world  there  is  no  brave  man 
or  woman  who  was  not  thrilled  by  Belgian  patriotism 
and  courage  in  battle  and  Belgian  fortitude  in  disaster. 
Belgium  is  a  nation  of  heroes,  and  I  have  the  pleasure 

[338] 


SPECIAL  MESSAGES 

of  presenting  a  worthy  representative,  Baron  Mon- 
cheur. 

A  MECCA  OF  LIBERTY 

Introducing  Ambassador  Boris  A.  Bakhmetieff  and  the 
Russian  Mission,  Mt.  Vernon,  June  24,  1917 

This  young  republic  is  rich  in  shrines,  but  Mt. 
Vernon  is  the  Mecca  not  only  for  Americans  but  for 
all  worshipers  of  liberty  who  come  to  our  shores. 
As  soldier  and  executive,  Washington  led  the  Revo- 
lution that  established  on  lasting  foundations  the  first 
great  Republic  of  the  world.  Its  success  has  cheered 
every  man  in  every  clime  who  dreamed  of  govern- 
ment by  the  consent  of  the  governed.  The  idea  that 
government  must  be  handed  down  to  the  people  was 
challenged  by  the  patriots  who  made  Washington  their 
leader.  Victory  for  government  of  the  people,  by  the 
people,  and  for  the  people  won  in  the  War  of  the 
Revolution  will  never  perish  from  the  earth.  Its  bless- 
ings are  reaching  all  mankind,  for  "the  thoughts  of 
men  are  widened  with  the  process  of  the  suns."  That 
must  be  the  compensation  which  will  come  out  of  the 
sacrifices  of  the  world  war. 


TIES  THAT  BIND  AMERICA  AND  JAPAN 

Introducing  Viscount  Ishii  and  the  Japanese  Mission, 
Mt.  Vernon,  August  26,  1917 

It  is  not  inappropriate,  but  I  think  it  has  an  histor- 
ical significance,  that  in  this  pilgrimage  of  our  dis- 
tinguished visitors  from  Japan  to  the  American 
Mecca,  they  have  come  upon  a  ship  of  the  Navy,  and 
as  guests  of  the  Navy  Department.  The  men  of  the 
Navy  love  to  recall  that  when  in  the  early  fifties  it  was 
determined  to  send  a  mission  to  Japan  to  open  the  way 
for  that  intercourse  which  has  been  mutually  so  agree- 
able and  helpful,  the  diplomatic  duty  was  intrusted  to 
a  distinguished  naval  officer,  Commodore  Matthew 

[339] 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

Calbraith  Perry,  who  had  won  fame  ashore  and  afloat. 
To  the  courage  of  a  naval  officer  he  added  the  ac- 
complishments of  a  diplomat,  thus  illustrating  again 
how  deserved  was  the  praise  of  Lord  Palmerston,  who 
said:  "When  I  wish  an  important  duty  performed  in 
any  part  of  the  world  calling  for  a  cool  head  and  a 
steady  hand,  I  always  send  a  captain  of  the  Navy." 

Commodore  Perry  was  the  first  to  win  the  confi- 
dence of  the  Japanese  rulers.  He  lived  before  this 
day  of  hurried  calls,  remained  in  Japan  nearly  three 
years,  having  time  to  learn  the  worth  of  the  Japanese 
and  to  study  their  customs  and  traditions.  He  re- 
mained, too,  long  enough  for  the  people  of  Japan  to 
learn  from  him  and  his  fellow  officers,  sailors  and 
marines  the  broad  and  fraternal  spirit  of  the  American 
people,  who  did  not  ask  then  and  have  not  asked 
since,  and  will  never  ask  for  themselves,  any  right  or 
privilege  that  may  not  likewise  be  granted  to  the 
smallest  nation. 

It  is  with  great  pleasure  that  America  opens  its 
hearts  and  homes  to  the  distinguished  members  of  the 
Japanese  Mission  and  with  a  peculiar  sense  of  fitness 
in  the  present  crisis  we  welcome  you  to  the  shrine  of 
George  Washington,  the  patron  saint  of  America,  who 
illustrated  those  virtues  of  valor  and  statesmanship 
which  attract  men  of  like  mold  of  every  clime  and 
every  nation. 

To-day,  with  stronger  ties  than  ever,  woven  out  of 
the  threads  of  our  mutual  participation  in  the  world- 
wide struggle  to  ensure  to  all  men  the  right  to  live 
their  own  lives  and  pursue  their  own  national  ideals, 
Japan  and  America  pause  at  the  Tomb  of  Washington 
in  the  hope  that  there  may  fall  upon  us  all  a  double 
portion  of  his  spirit  of  faith  in  the  triumph  of  the 
right  and  his  readiness  to  make  any  sacrifice  for  the 
principles  for  which  America  and  the  Allies  are  now 
contending  in  the  arena  of  war.  They  have  drawn 
the  sword  to  end  military  feudalism.  They  will  sheathe 
it  only  in  a  victory  that  will  guarantee  permanent 
peace. 

[340] 


SPECIAL  MESSAGES 

CHRISTMAS,  1917 

Dr.  Van  Dyke's  "The  Other  Wise  Man"  found 
the  Saviour  after  years  of  searching  and  sacrifice. 
This  Christmas  above  all  others  points  the  way  to 
Peace  on  Earth  through  travail  and  heroic  giving 
of  life  and  substance.  We  are  moving  toward  that 
long  deferred  era  of  Good  Will  to  Men  which  the 
Christ  promised  should  bless  mankind.  It  will  come 
to  us,  not  merely  ending  this  war,  but  presaging  the 
period  when  we  shall  realize  the  prophecy  of  Isaiah, 
"They  shall  beat  their  swords  into  plowshares." 
But,  like  all  good  things  that  abide,  it  will  come  only 
by  the  heavy  toll  of  life.  But  what  would  Life  be 
worth  to  us  without  Liberty?  Men  from  America 
are  fighting  this  Christmastide  because  Might  seeks 
to  deny  the  freedom  which  alone  can  make  the 
world  a  fit  place  for  free  men.  They  will  win  and 
their  victory  will  truly  enable  us  on  every  future 
Christmas  to  sing  "Peace  on  Earth,  Good  Will  To- 
ward Men"  with  the  assurance  that  it  is  a  possession 
which  neither  Force  nor  any  other  evil  thing  can 
take  from  us. 

"BUY  BONDS  UNTIL  IT  HURTS" 
Inauguration  of  Third  Liberty  Loan,  April  6,  1918 

On  this  anniversary  of  our  entrance  into  the  war 
the  magnitude  of  our  task  and  the  tremendous  respon- 
sibility which  rests  upon  America  come  home  to  us  as 
never  before.  The  progress  of  the  war  has  demon- 
strated the  inexorable  determination  of  the  German 
war  lords  to  impose  their  cruel  will  not  only  upon 
Europe,  but  upon  all  the  civilized  world,  and  this 
menace  will  not  be  overcome  unless  we  pour  out  our 
men,  our  money  and  our  every  resource.  With  all 
we  have  and  all  we  are  fully  enlisted,  victory  is  as- 
sured. Until  the  German  military  autocracy  is  crushed 
forever  there  will  be  no  safety  in  the  world  for  any 

[341] 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

of  the  things  America  holds  dear.  Our  men  in  the 
trenches  and  on  the  ships  are  counting  their  lives  as 
nothing  and  are  maintaining  the  highest  standards  of 
American  manhood  and  heroism.  It  is  our  privilege 
at  home  to  sacrifice  and  sacrifice  and  sacrifice  to  pro- 
vide the  Government  with  means  to  carry  on  the  war. 
No  man  who  values  his  freedom  and  loves  the  princi- 
ples upon  which  our  Government  was  established  can 
afford  not  to  contribute  to  the  limit  to  the  third  Lib- 
erty loan.  We  must  buy  bonds  until  it  hurts  and  then 
buy  more. 


THEY  ARE  GIVING  THEIR  ALL 
Memorial  Day,  1918 

The  significance  of  Memorial  Day  is  emphasized  on 
this  3oth  day  of  May  in  a  way  that  gives  it  a  new 
sacredness.  It  will  be  observed  this  year  with  a  sense 
of  solemnity  and  a  touch  of  pride  we  have  not  felt  in 
days  of  peace.  As  not  hitherto  in  this  generation  we 
will  gather  to  do  honor  to  the  supreme  sacrifice  made 
by  the  young  men  who  are  laying  their  all  on  the 
altar  of  their  country. 

It  is  not  because  these  men  who  have  given  their 
lives  were  brave  that  we  revere  their  memories.  Of 
brave  men  the  whole  earth  is  a  sepulcher.  The  uni- 
verse teems  with  stout  hearts,  and  courage  is  the  com- 
monest as  well  as  the  most  glorious  virtue  among 
men.  If  any  one  doubts  this  truth,  the  abundant  dis- 
play of  it  on  land  and  sea  in  the  past  few  months  has 
given  conviction  and  reverence. 

It  is  because  these  young  men  were  animated  by 
the  spirit  of  the  Gospel — "Greater  love  hath  no  man 
than  this:  that  he  lay  down  his  life" — that  we  revere 
them.  They  have  given  their  lives  as  proof  that  they 
love  their  country  better  than  they  love  life.  No 
man  loves  anything  he  will  not  die  for. 

We  erect  monuments  for  soldiers  and  sailors,  not 

[342] 


SPECIAL  MESSAGES 

because  they  are  better  than  men  in  civil  life,  but  be- 
cause in  giving  their  lives  they  were  not  thinking  of 
themselves,  but  they  were  thinking  of  guaranteeing  the 
welfare  of  those  who  come  after  them.  As  parents 
mourn  the  death  of  the  youths  who  are  giving  their 
lives  in  this  country  to  preserve  all  that  civilization 
and  Christianity  have  won,  their  grief  will  be  assuaged 
by  pride. 

Our  histories  tell  the  record  of  the  dead,  our  poets 
sing  of  it  and  we  celebrate  it  on  Memorial  Day.  The 
deed  shines  as  a  star  in  our  galaxy  of  glory.  It  is 
woven  into  the  texture  of  our  patriotism. 


AMERICAN  MOTHERS 
Mothers'  Day,  May  12,  1918 

The  courage  of  the  mothers  in  the  homes  is  reflected 
by  the  bravery  of  the  men  at  the  front.  It  is  always 
true  that  the  morale  of  a  nation's  soldiers  and  the 
ideals  for  which  they  fight  are  born  in  the  spiritual 
heroism  of  a  nation's  mothers.  Let  all  America  join 
in  international  prayer  to  all  mothers  of  defenders  of 
democracy  to  cheer  and  strengthen  them,  their  sons, 
and  the  Nation  itself  to  battle  to  win  the  fight  that 
must  be  won. 

Our  country  stands  before  the  world  as  a  Nation 
fighting  for  the  ideals  of  nations,  and  the  world  knows 
that  the  mothers  of  America  are  sending  men  of 
ideals  to  the  front.  In  that  lies  our  strength.  Faith 
and  prayer  are  the  two  basic  supports  of  national 
idealism.  International  prayer  for  all  mothers  of 
democracy — there  are  13,000,000  of  them— can  not  but 
aid  every  soldier  in  camp  or  trench  as  well  as 
strengthen  every  mother  at  home. 


[343] 


"BASTILLE  DAY" 

General  Order  to  All  Ships  and  Stations  of  the  Navy, 
Issued  July  iot  1918 

July  14,  Bastille  Day,  shall  be  observed  by  all  United 
States  naval  vessels  and  stations  as  a  special  day  of 
allied  tribute  to  France. 

Ships  shall  be  dressed  and  salutes  fired  to  French 
colors  in  the  same  manner  as  prescribed  for  July  4. 

Commanders  of  forces,  stations  and  districts  will 
assist  in  every  way  to  insure  hearty  cooperation  of  the 
Navy  in  connection  with  local  celebrations  of  Bastille 
Day. 

REGISTRATION  DAY,  1918 
Statement  to  the  Press,  September  7,  1918 

All  America  must  be  mobilized  to  win  the  war. 
Each  one  of  us,  whatever  our  age  or  occupation, 
owes  to  the  nation  the  best  service  we  can  give;  and 
it  is  for  the  country  to  say  where  we  can  serve  most 
efficiently.  The  wholeheartedness  with  which  our  en- 
tire population  is  supporting  every  necessary  war 
measure  was  never  more  strikingly  exemplified  than 
in  the  passage  and  successful  operation  of  the  selective 
draft  act.  This  is  the  first  instance  I  can  recall  in 
which  a  draft  system  involving  the  registration  of 
10,000,000  men  and  the  selection  of  millions  for  mili- 
tary service  has  been  successfully  carried  out  by  civil- 
ian officials  acting  under  military  direction.  This  is 
largely  due  to  the  faet  that  the  system  is  thoroughly 
democratic  in  principle  and  has  been  administered  with 
conspicuous  fairness  and  ability. 

The  extension  of  the  law  has,  I  am  sure,  met  with 
general  approval.  The  arrival  of  more  than  a  million 
American  troops  in  France  increased  the  confidence 
of  our  allies,  as  it  strengthened  the  allied  forces  by 
fresh  and  fit  new  fighters.  The  knowledge  that  these 

[344] 


SPECIAL  MESSAGES 

are  but  the  vanguard,  and  that  millions  more — as  many 
more  as  are  necessary — will  be  poured  across  in  an  un- 
ending stream,  removes  the  last  shadow  of  doubt,  if 
any  ever  existed,  of  Germany's  speedy  defeat  and  the 
early  triumph  of  the  forces  of  democracy. 

To  this  end  we  have  pledged  our  lives,  our  fortunes 
and  our  sacred  honor.  Loyal  Americans  will  consider 
it  a  proud  privilege  to  serve  wherever  our  country 
needs  us  most,  whether  in  the  trenches  or  on  the  seas, 
in  shipyard,  factory,  or  field. 

That  is  the  meaning  of  registration  day. 

FOURTH  LIBERTY  LOAN 
Message  to  Entire  Navy,  September  9,  1918 

On  Saturday,  September  28th,  this  country  will 
launch  its  Fourth  Liberty  Loan  campaign. 

To  the  first  three  calls  the  Navy  responded  in  a 
manner  that  thrilled  the  Nation.  In  the  third  cam- 
paign alone,  our  subscription  was  more  than  eighteen 
and  a  half  million  dollars.  The  Navy  again  has  an 
opportunity  to  demonstrate  its  thrift  and  to  proclaim 
once  more  its  readiness  to  serve  to  the  utmost. 

The  present  call  comes  at  a  time  when  the  eyes  of 
the  world  are  fixed  more  than  ever  before  on  the 
American  Navy.  To  achieve  another  triumph  in  this 
battle  against  Germany,  the  Navy  will,  I  am  sure,  be 
glad  to  exhibit  the  same  steadfastness,  energy,  and  sac- 
rifice which  make  for  victory  on  the  high  seas. 

SHIPS  THE  PRIME  NEED 
Message  to  Shipbuilders,  September  19,  1918 

The  chief  business  of  the  Navy  so  far  during  this 
war  has  been  to  keep  safe  the  road  to  France.  This 
work  has  been  well  done,  due  to  the  skill,  knowledge, 
and  courage  of  the  men  who  man  our  fighting  ships. 
But  capable  as  has  been  the  overseas  transport  ser- 

[345] 


THE  NAVY  AND  THE  NATION 

vice,  brave  and  courageous  as  our  soldiers  and  marines 
who  are  winning  victories  in  France,  the  vital  need 
has  been  ships,  and  ships,  and  more  ships  to  carry  our 
fighting  men,  munitions,  and  supplies.  We  need  more, 
and  every  man  who  drives  two  rivets  where  one  has 
been  driven  before  is  a  public  benefactor.  More  than 
that,  he  belongs  to  the  mighty  army  which  is  preserv- 
ing liberty  for  the  men  of  our  day  and  for  the  men 
of  future  generations. 

All  honor  to  the  men  who  have  expedited  shipbuild- 
ing, who  in  freezing  weather  and  in  burning  heat  have 
heeded  the  naval  signal  "full  speed  ahead"  in  building 
ships.  And  all  honor,  too,  to  those  who,  in  this  su- 
preme hour,  are  putting  on  additional  steam  in  this 
patriotic  service.  They  are  as  truly  doing  their  part 
to  win  the  war  as  are  the  men  on  the  ships  and  in  the 
trenches. 

EAGER  FOR  ACTION 
Interview  in  Pittsburg  Press,  November  3, 1918 

The  boys  that  man  our  ships  aren't  happy  over  their 
splendid  triumphs.  They  are  like  bull-dogs  straining 
at  the  leash.  They  want  action — they  want  to  battle 
day  after  day  for  the  greater  glory  of  America.  They 
are  almost  prayerful  in  their  pleading  for  "a  real 
crack  at  the  German*"  Nothing  in  this  life  would 
please  them  more  than  the  issuance  of  orders  to- 
morrow that  gave  them  a  chance  to  get  at  the  German 
Fleet. 

ON  THE  SIGNING  OF  THE  ARMISTICE 

Radio  Message  to  Every  Ship  and  Station  of  the  Navy, 
November  II,  1918 

The  signing  of  the  armistice  makes  this  the  great- 
est day  for  our  country  since  the  signing  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence.  For  the  world  there 
has  been  no  day  so  momentous  for  liberty.  I  send 

[346] 


SPECIAL  MESSAGES 

greetings  and  congratulations  to  all  in  the  naval 
establishments  at  home  and  abroad.  The  test  of 
war  found  the  navy  ready,  fit,  with  every  man  on 
his  toes.  Every  day  all  the  men  in  the  service  have 
given  fresh  proof  of  devotion,  loyalty  and  efficiency. 

In  America  and  in  all  other  countries  the  people 
have  applauded  naval  initiative  and  naval  resource- 
fulness. As  we  rejoice  in  the  victory  for  every 
principle  that  caused  us  to  enter  the  war,  let  us  be 
thankful  that  when  the  American  people  needed  a 
navy  we  were  ready  with  all  facilities  and  were 
rapidly  creating  all  others  that  could  be  employed. 

I  wish  to  express  my  warm  appreciation  for  your 
perfect  team-work  and  splendid  cooperation. 

RETURN  OF  THE  FLEET 

United  States  Battleships  Returning  from  Foreign  Service, 
December  25,  1918 

In  welcoming  home  the  powerful  American  dread- 
naughts  which  have  been  engaged  overseas  during  the 
war  the  American  people  will  greet  the  officers  and 
men  with  pride  and  congratulations.  These  powerful 
ships,  the  equal  of  any  in  the  world,  in  cooperation 
with  the  British  fleet  gave  such  predominance  of  Sea 
Power  in  the  North  Sea  that  the  German  fleet  dared 
not  invite  suicide  by  coming  out  and  offering  battle. 
They  did  not  try  conclusions  because  they  knew  there 
never  was  a  fleet  in  being  that  could  have  had  a  chance 
of  victory  against  the  British  and  American  fleet, 
working  together  with  the  same  signals  and  the  same 
strategy  as  if  they  were  of  the  naval  power  of  a  single 
nation.  Their  mission  was  as  single  as  if  they  had 
represented  only  one  instead  of  the  two  great  English 
speaking  nations.  Their  united  service  typified  and 
cemented  the  ties  between  our  country  and  Great 
Britain.  Their  silent  vigils  protected  commerce,  se- 
cured safe  passage  of  troops  and  supplies,  and  effec- 
tually bottled  up  the  German  fleet,  rendering  it  as  im- 
potent for  harm  as  if  it  had  never  been  constructed. 

[347] 


Sea  Power  once  again  demonstrated  its  primacy  in 
making  land  victories  possible.  While  the  American 
dreadnaughts,  an  important  part  of  the  world's  strong- 
est armada,  were  not  given  an  opportunity  to  win  a 
great  sea  victory,  they  did  more:  They  cooperated 
in  receiving  the  surrendered  German  fleet  which  capit- 
ulated to  the  superior  force  of  the  allied  fleets,  and 
they  will  be  received  at  home  with  all  the  honors  given 
to  valiant  victors. 

A  SYMBOL  OF  AMERICA'S  PURPOSE  AND  POWER 
Conclusion  of  Annual  Report,  December  I,  1918 

The  very  phrase  "The  Navy  of  the  United  States" 
has  to-day  a  new  significance.  It  means  not  only  ships 
and  crews,  not  only  materiel  and  personnel — it  connotes 
a  spirit,  invisible  but  potent,  a  spirit  that  has  enriched 
our  national  life,  that  has  vitalized  our  national  think- 
ing, that  has  widened  our  contact  with  national  prob- 
lems, and  thus  by  community  of  interest  has  bound 
us  together  in  a  closer  and  more  resolute  union.  In 
thousands  of  American  homes  to-day  where  our  Navy 
was  a  mere  word  in  1913  it  has  become  a  symbol  not 
only  of  daring  but  of  unselfish  endeavor  and  high 
constructive  purpose.  It  has  entered  into  the  national 
consciousness  as  part  and  parcel  of  the  twin  concepts 
America  and  Americanism.  It  had  already  linked 
itself  inseparably  with  our  past;  it  now  is  no  less  a 
part  of  our  future.  Nations  and  peoples,  too,  that  knew 
of  the  Navy  of  the  United  States  only  by  hearsay 
or  random  incident  know  it  now  as  the  organized  will 
of  a  free  people,  prompt  to  heed  the  call  of  right 
against  might,  tireless  in  effort,  fertile  in  resource, 
happy  in  cooperation,  and  unyielding  till  the  ultimate 
goal  be  won. 


[348] 


University  of  California 

SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 

405  Hilgard  Avenue,  Los  Angeles,  CA  90024-1388 

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